Question

1. (3 pts.) (Great Problem!) This problem is adapted from Med-Math, a book that has been used in the nursing pharmacology course here at VU. Suppose you are a nurse who is caring for a young child suffering from a severe skin infection. As part of the child's care, the doctor has ordered IV Tazidime, a broad-spectrum antibiotic, at a dose of 45 mg of Tazidime per kg of body weight per hour ( 45 mg Tazidime ) 1 kg body weight 1 hr/ -). Given that the child weighs 27 lbs (NOTE: 2.2 lbs = 1 kg) and that the antibiotic is supplied as a solution containing 0.100 g of Tazidime per/mL (of solution), what dosage rate (in mL per hour) should be administered to achieve the desired dosage of 45 mg/kg/hr? [ANSWER: 5.5 mL/hr. Your work will be evaluated based on having a correct, complete and logically organized setup!]

Answer 1

Given:

Recommended ordered dose=45 mg / kg /hr

weight=27 lbs ( 1 kg=2.2 lbs ; therefore 27 lbs= 27 / 2 = 12.272 kg)

volume concentration= 0.1 gm/ml=100 mg / ml ( as 1 gm = 1000 mg; therefore 0.1 gm = 0.1 * 1000= 100 mg )

Solution:

Dose to be given to child= Recommended dose * weight

Dose of the child    =45 * 12.272 = 552.24 mg

If 1 ml contains 100 mg

then X ml contains 552.24 mg

Therefore ; 552.24 * 1 = X * 100

Therefore X = 552.24 / 100 = 5.5224 = 5.5 ml

Therefore 5.5 ml / hr should be administered.