A nurse is preparing to administer clindamycin 300 mg by intermittent IV bolus over 30 min to a client who has a staphylococcal infection.
Available is clindamycin 900 mg in 50 mL. How many mL/hr should the nurse set the IV pump to? (Round to the nearest whole number, use a leading zero if it applies, do not use a trailing zero)
The correct answer and Explanation is :
To determine how many mL/hr the nurse should set the IV pump to, we use the following steps:
Step-by-Step Calculation
- Dosage required: The nurse needs to administer 300 mg of clindamycin.
- Available concentration: The available solution contains 900 mg of clindamycin in 50 mL.
- Determine the amount of solution containing 300 mg:
- Use the formula:
[
\text{Volume (mL)} = \frac{\text{Desired dose (mg)}}{\text{Available dose (mg/mL)}}
]
[
\text{Volume (mL)} = \frac{300 \text{ mg}}{900 \text{ mg}} \times 50 \text{ mL} = \frac{300}{900} \times 50 = 16.67 \text{ mL}
] So, 16.67 mL of the solution contains the required 300 mg dose.
- Rate of infusion:
- The nurse is to administer the solution over 30 minutes. To find the infusion rate in mL/hour, we need to convert this time to hours (since the IV pump settings are in mL/hour):
[
30 \text{ minutes} = 0.5 \text{ hours}
]
- Calculate the IV pump setting:
- To find the rate in mL/hr, divide the volume to be infused by the time (in hours):
[
\text{Rate (mL/hr)} = \frac{\text{Volume (mL)}}{\text{Time (hours)}}
]
[
\text{Rate (mL/hr)} = \frac{16.67 \text{ mL}}{0.5 \text{ hours}} = 33.34 \text{ mL/hr}
]
- Round the answer to the nearest whole number:
The infusion rate is approximately 33 mL/hr.
Explanation
The key to solving this problem is determining how much volume contains the desired dose of 300 mg and then calculating how fast to administer that volume based on the time specified. The available medication concentration (900 mg in 50 mL) helps us find that 300 mg corresponds to 16.67 mL of solution. Since the medication should be infused over 30 minutes (0.5 hours), the IV pump is set to 33 mL per hour to ensure the correct dose is delivered within the prescribed time. The answer is rounded to the nearest whole number, which is standard practice in clinical settings to ensure safety and accuracy in drug administration.