Question

The health care provider has prescribed an oxytocin infusion to begin at 1 mu/min and then increase by 1 mu/minute every 30 minutes until regular contractions begin. the maximum safe dose is 20 mu/min. the pharmacy provides a 1000 ml bag of 5% dextrose in water with 50 units oxytocin. calculate the ml/h for the beginning infusion. round the answer to the nearest tenth, if applicable.

Answer 1

To calculate the ml/h for the beginning infusion, divide the prescribed dose by the concentration of oxytocin in the solution and convert the units.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the ml/h for the beginning infusion, we need to determine how many micrograms of oxytocin are in 1 ml of the solution. The 1000 ml bag contains 50 units of oxytocin, so each ml contains 50 units/1000 ml = 0.05 units. Since the prescribed dose is 1 mu/min and we want to find the ml/h, we can set up a proportion:

1 mu/min / x ml/h = 0.05 units/ml / 60 min/h

Cross-multiplying and solving for x, we get:

x = (1 mu/min * 60 min/h) / (0.05 units/ml) = 1200 ml/h

Therefore, the ml/h for the beginning infusion is 1200, rounded to the nearest tenth.