Question

The client has an order for dopamine 3 mcg/kg/min. The

medication available is dopamine 50mg/500 mL of 0.9% NS. The client
weighs 55 kg. At what rate will the nurse set the infusion? ___
mL/hr (If nee

Answer 1

To calculate the flow rate of a dopamine infusion for a client weighing 55 kg prescribed at 3 mcg/kg/min with a medicine concentration of 50 mg/500 mL, the infusion pump should be set to 99 mL per hour.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question relates to a medical calculation, often known as a drug dosage or IV drip rate calculation. The student needs to calculate the flow rate in mL per hour for a dopamine infusion. The client weighs 55 kg and the prescription is for dopamine at 3 mcg/kg/min. With the given dopamine concentration of 50 mg in 500 mL of saline, here's how you can proceed with the calculation:

• First, convert the prescribed dosage from mcg/kg/min to mg/hr:
  (3 mcg/kg/min) × (55 kg) × (60 min/hr) = (3 × 55 × 60 mcg/hr) / 1000 = 9.9 mg/hr.
• Then, determine how many mL of the dopamine solution to administer per hour to achieve this dosage:
  (9.9 mg) / (50 mg/500 mL) = 99 mL/hr.

Therefore, the nurse would set the infusion pump to deliver 99 mL of solution per hour.