Question

A nurse is preparing to administer erythromycin ethylsuccinate 50 mg/kg/day PO divided in equal doses every 6 hr to a toddler who weighs 32 lb. Available is erythromycin ethylsuccinate suspension 200 mg/5 ml. How many mL should the nurse administer per dose?

Answer 1

Answer: 4.5 mg

First convert 32 lb to kg: 32lb × 1kg / 2.2kg: 14.55kg

24 hours / 6hours= 4 times a day

14.55 kg × 50mg/kg/day / 4= 181.9 mg

Now to get the mL, use the formula Desired/Have × mL:

181.9mg / 200 mg × 5 mL =4.5 mg

Answer 2

The nurse should administer approximately 36.375 ml of erythromycin ethyl succinate suspension per dose to the toddler.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the number of mL the nurse should administer per dose, we need to convert the weight of the toddler from pounds to kilograms. The toddler weighs 32 lb, which is approximately 14.55 kg. The recommended dosage is 50 mg/kg/day.

Therefore, the total daily dosage for the toddler would be 50 mg/kg/day x 14.55 kg = 727.5 mg/day.

Since the medication is available as a 200 mg/5 ml suspension, we can calculate how many ml should be administered per dose by dividing the total daily dosage by the concentration of the suspension:

727.5 mg/day ÷ 200 mg/5 ml = 181.875 ml/day ÷ 5 ml = 36.375 ml/dose.

Therefore, the nurse should administer approximately 36.375 ml of erythromycin ethyl succinate suspension per dose to the toddler.