Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Party Over Here...BYOC...

Bring Your Own Calculator, in case there was any doubt over that last letter.

You haven't quite experienced fun until you've been told to solve the following problem:


"The doctor orders 1500 ml of D5W q 12 h. The doctor also orders erythromycin 500 mg in 50 ml D5W IVPB to infuse over 30 minutes q 8 h. The stock supply is erythromycin 1 gram vial. The directions say to reconstitute with 4.8 ml of sterile water to yield 5 ml. The drop factor of each IV is 15 gtts/ml.

A) How many ml of erythromycin will you add to the IVPB?

B) Calculate the flow rate of the IVPB in gtts/min.

C) Calculate the flow rate of the main IV in ml/h.

D) How many grams of erythromycin will the patient receive in 24 hours?


*facepalm*

I am eagerly awaiting the time in my education and career when these types of "orders" become second-nature, and do not require every iota of my brain's concentration to deliver the appropriate therapy to a patient. I'm sure that day will come, but today, it seems further away than the year 3000.

And with that, I'm off to find out the answers to all of those questions. I sure hope my calculator doesn't start smoking...

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