Question

A nurse is preparing to administer cephalexin 5mg/kg/day to a toddler who weighs 25.8 lb. Available is cephalexin 125mg/5 mL suspension. How many mL should the nurse administer? (Round answer to the nearest tenth, i.e., 1.2 or 0.1)

______________________mL

Answer 1

The nurse should administer 2.3 mL of cephalexin suspension to the toddler, based on the conversion of the child's weight to kilograms and the dosage per weight.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question involves calculating the correct dosage of medication based on the body weight of a toddler and the concentration of the medication. The first step is to convert the body weight from pounds to kilograms, as the dosage is given in milligrams per kilogram. Then, using the conversion, we calculate the total daily dosage in milligrams. Lastly, we determine the volume of the suspension that the nurse should administer by taking into account the concentration of the cephalexin suspension.

To perform these calculations:

1. First, convert the weight from pounds to kilograms: 25.8 lb × 0.453592 kg/lb = 11.7037 kg
2. Calculate the total daily dosage in milligrams: 5 mg/kg/day × 11.7037 kg = 58.5185 mg/day
3. Finally, calculate the volume of the suspension: 58.5185 mg/day ÷ (125 mg/5 mL) = 2.341 mL/day

Therefore, the nurse should administer 2.3 mL of the suspension (rounded to the nearest tenth).