Question

A nurse is preparing to administer chlorpromazine 0.55 mg/kg PO to an adolescent who weighs 110 lb. Available is chlorpromazine syrup 10mg/5mL. How many mL should the nurse administer? Round to the nearest whole number

Answer 1

To administer chlorpromazine to a 110 lb adolescent, first convert the weight to kilograms, calculate the total dosage in mg, and then convert the dosage to the volume of syrup in mL. The resulting volume of 13.7225 mL should be rounded to the nearest whole number, so the nurse should administer 14 mL.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student's question pertains to the calculation of medication dosage based on a patient's weight. In this scenario, the nurse is preparing to administer chlorpromazine to an adolescent weighing 110 lb using a syrup formulation (10mg/5mL). To calculate the correct dosage in mL, the following steps need to be followed:

• Convert the adolescent's weight from pounds to kilograms (1 lb = 0.453592 kg).
• Multiply the weight in kilograms by the dosage in mg/kg to find the total dose in mg.
• Divide the total dose in mg by the concentration of the syrup (10 mg per 5 mL) to find the volume in mL that needs to be administered.
• Round the answer to the nearest whole number as typically required in medical practice for dosages.

Firstly, convert the adolescent's weight to kilograms:
110 lb * 0.453592 kg/lb = 49.89512 kg (round to 49.9 kg for simplicity).

Then, calculate the dosage required in milligrams:
0.55 mg/kg * 49.9 kg = 27.445 mg.

Now, determine the volume of syrup the nurse should administer:
(27.445 mg / 10 mg) * 5 mL = 13.7225 mL, which rounds to 14 mL.