Question

If a medication is ordered at 5mg/kg per day and the patient weighs 65 lbs , How many grams will the patient receive if the medication is taken 10 days ?

Answer 1

To calculate the total dosage in grams for the patient over 10 days, convert the patient's weight to kilograms, multiply by the per kilogram dosage, calculate the total for 10 days, and then convert milligrams to grams.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question involves the calculation of medication dosage over a period of time based on a patient's weight. To find how many grams the patient will receive over 10 days, we first need to convert the patient's weight from pounds to kilograms, since the dosage is given in mg per kilogram. The standard conversion is 1 kg = 2.20462 lbs. We then multiply the weight of the patient in kilograms by the dosage per kilogram and then multiply that result by the number of days the medication is taken to get the total dosage in milligrams. Finally, to convert from milligrams to grams, we use the fact that 1 gram = 1000 milligrams.

Here are the steps:

1. Convert weight from pounds to kilograms: Weight (kg) = Weight (lbs) / 2.20462
2. Calculate daily dosage in mg: Daily Dosage (mg) = Weight (kg) × 5 mg/kg
3. Calculate total dosage over 10 days in mg: Total Dosage (mg) = Daily Dosage (mg) × 10 days
4. Convert total dosage from mg to grams: Total Dosage (g) = Total Dosage (mg) / 1000