CHAPTER 05 - DOSAGE CALCULATIONS

1. The nurse is calculating a drug dosage and converting from milligrams to grams. What
measurement system is the nurse using?
A) Metric system
B) Apothecary system
C) Household system
D) Avoirdupois system

2. The nurse teaches a young mother the importance of administering appropriate dosages of
acetaminophen (Tylenol) and determines further teaching is needed when the mother makes what
statement?
A) The children’s dosage will change with time as they grow.
B) My baby’s dose of Tylenol is about 1 half an adult dose.
C) It is important to give the right dose to prevent toxic effects of the medication.
D) My children’s dose of Tylenol should be based on their weight or age

3. A nurse calculates the pediatric patient’s medication dosage using Clark’s rule and uses what
formula
A) Infant’s age in months/150 months times the average adult dose
B) Child’s age in years/child’s age in years plus 12 times the average adult dose
C) Weight of child in pounds/150 pounds times the average adult dose
D) Surface area in square meters/1.73 times the average adult dose

4. The nurse receives a new medication order for a patient to administer 240 mg of medication per
day in equally divided doses every 6 hours. How many mg of the drug should the nurse administer
for each dose?

5. A physician orders 500 mL of IV solution be administered over 8 hours. If the IV infusion set
delivers 15 drops per mL, how many drops per minute should the nurse administer to the patient?
A) 15 drops/min B) 20 drops/min
C) 32 drops/min D) 64 drops/min

6. The nurse is teaching a diabetic patient to self-administer Humulin insulin, supplied in a vial labeled
100 units/mL. The provider has ordered 32 units of Humulin insulin to be taken each morning. How
many mL of insulin would the patient prepare for one dose?
A) 0.032 mL B) 0.32 mL C) 3.2 mL D) 0.64 Ml

7. The provider orders a maintenance dose of oral aminophylline, 3 mg/kg every 6 hour. The patient
weighs 50 kg. How many mg should the nurse administer to the patient in a 24-hour period?

8. The physician writes an order for oxazepam for a 6-year-old child. The nurse verifies that there is
no established dosage for children 6 to 12 years of age for oxazepam. The nurse knows that the
usual adult dose is 10 mg tid. What would the nurse calculate the appropriate dose to be?
A) 0.03 mg tid B) 0.3 mg tid
C) 1.8 mg tid D) 3.3 mg tid
9. A newly admitted patient has orders to receive 1,000 mL of normal saline IV over 8 hours. If the IV
infusion set is a microdrip set that delivers 60 drops per mL, how many drops per minute should
the nurse administer to the patient?
A) 60 drops/min B) 125 drops/min
C) 240 drops/min D) 480 drops/min
10. The nurse is preparing to administer cefadroxil 1 g PO. The medication is supplied in 500-mg
tablets. How many tablets will the nurse administer?
A) 0.5 tablet B) 1 tablet
C) 2 tablets D) 3 tablets
11. The nurse begins administering 500 mL of 5% dextrose and water solution at 01:00 to run over 4
hours. At 02:00, the nurse administers 80 mg gentamicin in 50 cc normal saline to infuse over 30
minutes. How many mL of fluid will the nurse administer to the patient between 02:00 and 03:00?
A)175 mL B) 150 mL C) 125 mL D) 100 mL
12. An adult patient with renal cancer, weighing 95 kg, is to receive vincristine 25 mcg/kg/day IV. What
is the dosage of vincristine that the nurse should administer to the patient daily in mg?

13. The nurse is preparing medication for a 30-month-old child with otitis media in the right ear. The
child weighs 33 pounds. The physician has ordered Keflex, 50 mg/kg/d in equally divided doses
every 8 hours. The medication concentration is 250 mg/5 mL. How many milliliters should the
nurse give the toddler for each dose?

14. An adolescent is admitted to the intensive care unit with diabetic ketoacidosis. The nurse prepares
a continuous insulin infusion of 100 units (U) regular insulin in 500 milligram normal saline. When
documenting this medication, how many units of regular insulin will this patient receive per
milligram of IV solution?
A) 0.175 U/milligram B) 0.2 U/milligram
C) 0.25 U/milligram D) 0.5 U/milligram

15. The patient drinks 18 ounces of fluid at lunchtime. How many milliliters of intake will the nurse
document?
A) 1.7 mL B) 0.6 mL C) 540 mL D) 54 mL

16. The pediatric nurse is caring for a child who weighs 44 pounds. The physician has ordered
methylprednisolone sodium succinate (Solu-Medrol), 0.03 mg/kg/d IV in normal saline. How many
milligrams of medication will the nurse prepare?
A) 6.5 B) 6 C) 0.65 D) 0.6

17. The nurse is to infuse 100 mL of 5% dextrose and water solution containing an IV antibiotic over 30
minutes. The infusion set delivers 10 gtt/mL. How many drops per minute will the nurse
administer?
A) 33 gtt/min B) 30.3 gtt/min
C) 30 gtt/min D) 3 gtt/min

18. An 80-year-old patient with internal bleeding is admitted through the emergency room after a motor
vehicle accident. The physician has ordered 2 units of packed red blood cells (1 unit is 250 mL) to
infuse over 1 hour each. The drip rate on the blood administration set is10 gtt/mL. The nurse
administers how many drops per minute to infuse the blood as ordered?
A) 47 B) 42 C) 37 D) 32

19. The physician prescribes 250 mg of a drug. The information on the drug vial says the concentration
is 500 mg/mL. How much of the drug will the nurse prepare?
A) 0.25 mL B) 0.33 mL C) 0.5 mL D) 0.75 mL

20. An 81-year-old patient with congestive heart failure has been sent to a cardiologist who prescribes
digoxin (Lanoxin) 0.125 mg PO every morning. The pharmacy dispenses pills that contain 0.25 mg
of Lanoxin. How many pills should the nurse teach the patient to take every morning?
A) 2 B) 1.5 C) 1 D) 0.5

21. A patient with diabetic ketoacidosis is to receive a continuous infusion of regular insulin. The
physician orders 1 L of 5% dextrose and water solution to run at 150 mL/h once the patient’s blood
glucose has reached 250 mg/dL. The drip factor of the tubing is 15 gtt/mL. How many drops per
minute will the nurse deliver?
A) 0.25 gtt/min B) 62 gtt/min
C) 37 gtt/min D) 250 gtt/min
22. A patient has orders to receive 2 L of IV fluid over a 24-hour period with ½ this amount to be
infused in the first 10 hours of treatment. How many milliliters per hour will the nurse administer
during the first 10 hours of the infusion?
A) 50 mL/h B) 100 mL/h
C) 83 mL/h D) 200 mL/h

23. A patient is going to have bowel surgery in the morning. The physician orders 500 mL of GoLytely
PO to be administered at 5 PM this evening. How many liters will the nurse administer?
A) 1 B) ¾ C) ½ D) ¼

24. The patient returns from the postanesthesia care unit (PACU) with the following order: morphine 3
mg IV every 2 hours as needed for relief of pain. The vial reads morphine, 4 mg/mL. How many
milliliters of morphine will the nurse administer?
A) 1 mL B) 0.75 mL C) 0.5 mL D) 0.25 mL

25. A patient is admitted with a deep vein thrombosis in his or her left calf. The physician orders
Heparin, 7,500 units subcutaneously every 12 hours. The medication vial reads Heparin, 10,000
units/mL. How many milliliters does the nurse administer?
A) 0.5 mL B) 0.75 mL C) 1 mL D) 1.25 mL

26. A patient with an acute myocardial infarction is admitted to the coronary care unit. The physician
has ordered heparin 25,000 units in 250 mL normal saline to infuse at a rate of 600 units/h. The
nurse sets the infusion pump to deliver how many milliliters in an hour?
A) 8 B) 7 C) 6 D) 5

27. The physician has ordered 30 mg of Demerol IM for relief of a severe migraine headache. The
package insert reads meperidine hydrochloride (Demerol) 50 mg/mL. How many milliliters would
the nurse administer?
A) 1.6 B) 1 C) 0.6 D) 0.5

28. A patient is experiencing pain, so the physician orders codeine ½ grain every 4 hours. How many
milligrams of codeine would the nurse administer?
A) 15 mg B) 30 mg C) 60 mg D) 120 mg

29. A 79-year-old female patient presents at the clinic complaining of constipation for 1 week. The
nurse practitioner prescribes Milk of Magnesia 2 teaspoons by mouth as needed for relief of
constipation. How many milliliter will the nurse administer?
A) 30 mL B) 7.5 mL C) 10 mL D) 15 mL

30. A patient has orders to receive 3,000 mL of IV fluid at a rate of 150 mL/h. If the infusion starts at
08:00, when would it be finished?
A) 20:00 B) 23:00 C) 01:00 D) 04:00

31. The nurse recognizes that what system is being used when seeing a medication ordered in
minims?
A) Apothecary B) Metric
C) Household D) Avoirdupois

32. The nurse is calculating the patient’s intake and output record and converts ounces to milliliters.
What systems is this nurse converting from and to?
A) From household to metric
B) From metric to household
C) From household to apothecary
D) From apothecary to Avoirdupois
33. What is the most accurate method for the nurse to use when determining a pediatric dosage?
A) A nomogram using body surface area
B) Young’s rule
C) Fried’s rule
D) Clark’s rule

34. The nurse determines a child’s body surface area is 0.4 m2 and the average adult dosage of the
medication is 500 mg. The medication is supplied in liquid form with 500mg/5 mL. How many
milliliter will the nurse administer?
A) 3.46 mL B) 1.73 mL C) 0.5 mL D)12 mL

35. The physician orders acetaminophen (Tylenol) 15 mg/kg q4 hours PRN (as needed) for pain. The
drug is supplied with 160 mg/5 mL. The infant weighs 12 pounds. How many milliliter of medication
will the nurse administer?
A) 2.5 mL B) 5.6 mL C) 12.4 mL D) 10.7 mL