Question

The nurse is preparing to administer 80 mg of Solu-medrol intravenously (IV) to a client with pneumonia. The vial states that it has 120 mg per 2 mL. The nurse would correctly draw up which amount?

Answer 1

The nurse should draw up 1.33 mL of Solu-medrol, which can be rounded to 1.3 mL, to administer the correct 80 mg dose intravenously.

Step-by-step explanation:

The nurse is preparing to administer 80 mg of Solu-medrol intravenously (IV) to a client with pneumonia. The vial is labeled as having 120 mg per 2 mL. To determine the correct amount of medication to draw up, we use a proportion:

120 mg / 2 mL = 80 mg / x mL

By cross-multiplying, we get:

120 mg × x mL = 80 mg × 2 mL

120x = 160

To solve for x, we divide both sides of the equation by 120:

x = 160 / 120

x = 1.333... mL

The nurse would therefore correctly draw up 1.33 mL (or 1.3 mL if rounding to one decimal place as is common in clinical practice) to provide the required 80 mg dose.