The nurse is reconstituting a powdered medication that is labeled, “Add 2.5 mL of normal saline to make 1 gram per mL.” The dient’s prescription is for 500 mg of the medication. How many mL should the nurse administer to this client? (Enter numeric value only. If rounding is required, round to the nearest tenth.)
The Correct answer and Explanation is:
To determine how many milliliters of the reconstituted medication the nurse should administer to the client, we first need to understand the reconstitution process and the dosage required.
Step 1: Understand the Reconstitution
The label states: “Add 2.5 mL of normal saline to make 1 gram per mL.” This means that when the nurse adds 2.5 mL of normal saline to the powdered medication, the resulting solution will contain 1 gram (1000 mg) of medication in every 1 mL of the solution.
Step 2: Calculate the Amount of Solution Needed for 500 mg
The prescription is for 500 mg of the medication. Since the reconstituted solution has a concentration of 1000 mg/mL, we can set up the following calculation to determine how many mL of this solution are required to obtain the prescribed 500 mg:
[
\text{Volume needed (mL)} = \frac{\text{Dose required (mg)}}{\text{Concentration (mg/mL)}}
]
Substituting in the values:
[
\text{Volume needed (mL)} = \frac{500 \, \text{mg}}{1000 \, \text{mg/mL}} = 0.5 \, \text{mL}
]
Step 3: Final Calculation
The nurse needs to administer 0.5 mL of the reconstituted medication to deliver the prescribed dose of 500 mg.
Summary
In summary, to administer 500 mg of medication, the nurse will prepare the medication by adding 2.5 mL of normal saline to the powdered form, resulting in a concentration of 1000 mg/mL. Then, the nurse will measure out 0.5 mL from this reconstituted solution to provide the appropriate dosage. It is crucial to follow the reconstitution and dosage calculations accurately to ensure patient safety and effective medication administration. Therefore, the final answer is:
0.5