Question

A nurse is preparing to administer ibuprofen 5 mg/kg every 6 hr PRN for a temperature above 38.0C (100.5F) to an infant who weighs 17.6 lb. Available is ibuprofen oral suspension 100 mg/5 mL. How many mL should the nurse administer to the infant per dose?

A. 2 mL.
B. 3.5 mL.
C. 5 mL.
D. 7 mL.

Answer 1

To calculate the dosage of ibuprofen oral suspension for an infant weighing 17.6 lb, convert the weight to kg. The recommended dosage is 5 mg/kg, so calculate the total dosage in mg and then find the mL dosage using the concentration of the oral suspension. The nurse should administer approximately 2 mL per dose.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the dosage of ibuprofen oral suspension for an infant, we need to convert the weight of the infant from pounds to kilograms. The infant weighs 17.6 lb, which is approximately 7.98 kg (1 lb ≈ 0.4536 kg).

The dosage is 5 mg/kg, so the total dosage for the infant would be 5 mg/kg x 7.98 kg = 39.9 mg.

The concentration of the ibuprofen oral suspension is 100 mg/5 mL. To calculate how many mL should be administered, we can set up a proportion: 100 mg/5 mL = 39.9 mg/x mL. Cross multiplying, we get 100x = 199.5. Solving for x, we find that x ≈ 1.995 mL. Therefore, the nurse should administer approximately 2 mL per dose.