Question

Medical command has ordered you to start a Dopamine drip at 5 mcg/kg/min. Your patient weighs 176 pounds. Available you have 400 mg of dopamine, a 500 cc bag, and a mini drip set. How many drops per minute will you give?

Volume [__C__]

Answer 1

To calculate the number of drops per minute for the Dopamine drip, you need to use the formula: Drops per Minute = (Dose in mcg/min / Concentration in mcg/mL) * (1 mL / Drip set volume in mL) * (60 min / 1 hour). After performing the necessary calculations, the patient should receive approximately 10 drops per minute.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the number of drops per minute for the Dopamine drip, we need to use the formula: Drops per Minute = (Dose in mcg/min / Concentration in mcg/mL) * (1 mL / Drip set volume in mL) * (60 min / 1 hour).

First, we need to convert the patient's weight from pounds to kilograms. Since 1 pound is approximately 0.4536 kilograms, the patient's weight is 80 kilograms (176 pounds * 0.4536 kilograms/pound).

Next, we calculate the dose of Dopamine in mcg/min by multiplying the patient's weight (80 kilograms) by the ordered dose (5 mcg/kg/min). The dose is 400 mcg/min (80 kilograms * 5 mcg/kg/min).

Since we have 400 mg of dopamine, we need to convert it to mcg by multiplying it by 1000. So, we have 400,000 mcg of dopamine.

Now we can calculate the concentration of the dopamine solution in mcg/mL by dividing the total mcg of dopamine (400,000 mcg) by the volume of the bag (500 mL). The concentration is 800 mcg/mL (400,000 mcg / 500 mL).

Finally, we can calculate the number of drops per minute by substituting the values into the formula: Drops per Minute = (400 mcg/min / 800 mcg/mL) * (1 mL / 60 drops) * (60 min / 1 hour). After simplifying the units, we find that the patient should receive approximately 10 drops per minute.