Question

A nurse is preparing to administer dopamine 5 mcg/ kg/min by continuous IV infusion to a client who weighs 75 kg. The amount available is dopamine 800 mg/500 mL. The nurse should set the IV pump to deliver how many ml/hr?

Answer 1

To determine the required infusion rate, the nurse calculates the dosage in mg/min for the client's weight and then converts this to the corresponding volume using the concentration of the dopamine solution. The nurse should set the IV pump to 14.0625 mL/hr.

Step-by-step explanation:

A nurse is preparing to administer dopamine 5 mcg/ kg/min by continuous IV infusion to a client who weighs 75 kg. The amount available is dopamine 800 mg/500 mL. To determine the infusion rate in mL/hr, we need to calculate the dosage in mg/min first, then convert this dose to the corresponding volume using the concentration of the solution.

The client's dosage is 5 mcg/kg/min. Since 1 mg = 1000 mcg, we convert 5 mcg to mg:

5 mcg = 0.005 mg

Then, we calculate the dose in mg for the client's weight:

0.005 mg/kg/min * 75 kg = 0.375 mg/min

Now that we have the dosage, let's determine the volume for the infusion pump. We have an 800 mg dopamine in 500 mL, hence:

800 mg dopamine is in 500 mL

Therefore, 1 mg dopamine is in (500 mL / 800 mg)

Finally, we calculate the volume for 0.375 mg dose:

(500 mL / 800 mg) * 0.375 mg/min = 0.234375 mL/min

To get the rate in mL/hr, we multiply by 60 minutes:

0.234375 mL/min * 60 min/hr = 14.0625 mL/hr.

The nurse should set the IV pump to deliver 14.0625 mL/hr.