{"id":215785,"date":"2025-05-17T19:05:09","date_gmt":"2025-05-17T19:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/?p=215785"},"modified":"2025-05-17T19:05:11","modified_gmt":"2025-05-17T19:05:11","slug":"how-much-medication-should-the-patient-be-given","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/17\/how-much-medication-should-the-patient-be-given\/","title":{"rendered":"How much medication should the patient be given"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Patient is prescribed 0.8 micrograms of levothyroxine per kilogram q 12 hours. Patient weight is 92 kilograms. How much medication should the patient be given:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rationale: Harding, M., Kwong, J., Roberts, D., Hagler, D., &amp; Reinisch, C. (2020). Lewis\u2019s Medical-surgical nursing : Assessment and management of clinical problems (11th ed.,). Elsevier, Inc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A) 153.3 mcg<br>B) 147.8 mcg<br>C) 147.2 mcg<br>D) 145.2 mcg<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-ast-global-color-1-color\">The Correct Answer and Explanation is:<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To determine the correct dosage of levothyroxine for the patient, we use the following formula:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Dosage (mcg) = Dosage per kilogram \u00d7 Weight (kg)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Given:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Dosage = <strong>0.8 micrograms\/kg<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Frequency = <strong>every 12 hours<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Weight = <strong>92 kg<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Step-by-step Calculation:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>0.8\u2009\u03bcg\/kg\u00d792\u2009kg=73.6\u2009\u03bcg&nbsp;per&nbsp;dose0.8 \\, \\mu g\/kg \\times 92 \\, kg = 73.6 \\, \\mu g \\text{ per dose}<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since the medication is administered <strong>every 12 hours<\/strong>, that means the patient will receive <strong>2 doses per day<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, total daily dose: 73.6\u2009\u03bcg\u00d72=147.2\u2009\u03bcg\/day73.6 \\, \\mu g \\times 2 = 147.2 \\, \\mu g\/day<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Correct Answer:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>C) 147.2 mcg<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Explanation:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Levothyroxine is a synthetic form of the thyroid hormone <strong>T4<\/strong>, and it is commonly prescribed for patients with hypothyroidism or after thyroidectomy. Dosing is carefully calculated based on <strong>body weight (in micrograms per kilogram)<\/strong> to ensure appropriate replacement of thyroid hormone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this case, the patient\u2019s weight is <strong>92 kg<\/strong>, and the prescribed dose is <strong>0.8 mcg\/kg every 12 hours<\/strong>. First, calculate the single dose:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>0.8 mcg \u00d7 92 kg = <strong>73.6 mcg per dose<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Since the medication is to be administered <strong>twice daily (q12h)<\/strong>, the <strong>total daily dose<\/strong> becomes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>73.6 mcg \u00d7 2 = <strong>147.2 mcg\/day<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>This approach ensures accurate dosing based on weight and frequency. Dosing errors can lead to either <strong>undertreatment<\/strong> (resulting in persistent hypothyroid symptoms such as fatigue, weight gain, and bradycardia) or <strong>overtreatment<\/strong> (leading to symptoms of hyperthyroidism such as palpitations, weight loss, and anxiety).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Therefore, understanding weight-based dosage calculations and frequency adjustments is critical for safe medication administration in clinical nursing practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Final Answer:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2705 <strong>C) 147.2 mcg<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Patient is prescribed 0.8 micrograms of levothyroxine per kilogram q 12 hours. Patient weight is 92 kilograms. How much medication should the patient be given: Rationale: Harding, M., Kwong, J., Roberts, D., Hagler, D., &amp; Reinisch, C. (2020). Lewis\u2019s Medical-surgical nursing : Assessment and management of clinical problems (11th ed.,). Elsevier, Inc. A) 153.3 mcgB) [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-215785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=215785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215785\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=215785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=215785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=215785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}