LESSON PLAN

By the end of the discussion, the students will be able to:

1. convert from one unit to another

2. compute the dosage to be given of a certain medication

3. compute the drops per minute and the hours to run of intravenous fluids

4. have an overview about the nursing care during the intrapartal and postpartum period

UNIT CONVERSION

1 kg = 1000 g 1 kg = 2.2 Ibs

Remember!
1 g = 1000 mg 1 cup = 240 cc
In converting to a smaller unit,
1 mg = 1000 mcg move the decimal point to the 1 teaspoon (tsp) = 5 mL
right and vise versa
1L = 1000 mL 1 tablespoon (tbsp) = 15 mL or 3 tsp

Examples

18 g = 18,000 mg 45 kgs = 99 Ibs

65 mcg = 0.065 mg 2 1⁄2 cups = 600 cc

56 kg = 56,000,000 mg 3 teaspoons = 15 mL

115 Ibs = 52.27 kgs 2 tablespoons = 30 mL

DRUGS COMPUTATION

𝑫𝒐𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓′ 𝒔 𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝑫
× 𝒗𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒍𝒆 or ×𝑽
𝑫𝒓𝒖𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑯
Examples

A physician prescription reads morphine sulfate 8 mg STAT, the medication label reads
morphine sulfate 10 mg/mL, a nurse prepares how many mL to administer the correct dose?

𝟖 𝒎𝒈
= 𝟎. 𝟖 𝒎𝒍
𝟏𝟎 𝒎𝒈

A physician’s prescription reads potassium chloride 30 mEq to be added to 1000 mL normal

saline and to be administered over a 10-hour period, the label on the medication bottle reads
40 mEq/ 20 ml, a nurse prepares how many ml to administer the correct dose?

𝟑𝟎 𝒎𝑬𝒒
× 𝟐𝟎 𝒎𝒍 = 𝟏𝟓 𝒎𝒍
𝟒𝟎 𝒎𝑬𝒒

A physician’s prescription reads clindamycin phosphate 0.3 g in 50 ml normal saline to be

administered intravenously over 30 minutes, the medical label reads clindamycin phosphate
900 mg in 6 ml, a nurse prepares how many ml to administer the correct dose?

𝟑𝟎𝟎 𝒎𝒈
× 𝟔 𝒎𝒍 = 𝟐 𝒎𝒍
𝟗𝟎𝟎 𝒎𝒈

A physician’s prescription reads phenytoin 0.2 g orally twice daily, the medication label states
100 mg capsules, a nurse prepares how many caps to administer the correct dose?

𝟐𝟎𝟎 𝒎𝒈
= 𝟐 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒔
𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝒎𝒈

A physician’s order reads levothyroxine 150 mcg orally daily, the medication label reads 0.1 mg
/ tab, a nurse administers how many tablets to the client?

𝟎. 𝟏𝟓 𝒎𝒈
= 𝟏. 𝟓 𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒔
𝟎. 𝟏 𝒎𝒈

IV COMPUTATION
𝒈𝒕𝒕
𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆 (𝒎𝒍)×𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒑 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓 ( 𝒎𝒍 ) 𝒈𝒕𝒕
a. = 𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒆 ( )
𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒖𝒏 (𝒉𝒓𝒔)×𝟔𝟎 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒏

𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆 (𝒎𝒍) 𝒄𝒄
b. = 𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 ( )
𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒖𝒏 𝒉𝒓

𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆 (𝒎𝒍)
c. 𝒄𝒄 = 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒖𝒏
𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 (𝒉𝒓)
EXAMPLES:

A physician’s prescription reads 1000 ml of normal saline to infuse over 12 hours, the drop
factor is 15 gtt/min, a nurse prepares to set the flow rate to how many drops per minute?

𝒈𝒕𝒕
𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎 (𝒎𝒍) × 𝟏𝟓 ( )
𝒎𝒍 = 𝟐𝟎. 𝟖𝟑 ≈ 𝟐𝟏 ( 𝒈𝒕𝒕 )
𝟏𝟐 (𝒉𝒓𝒔) × 𝟔𝟎 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒏

Gentamycin sulfate 50 mg in 1000 ml normal saline is to be administered over 30 minutes, the

drop factor is 10, the nurse sets the flow rate to how many drops per minute?

𝒈𝒕𝒕
𝟏𝟎𝟎 (𝒎𝒍) × 𝟏𝟎 ( )
𝒎𝒍 = 𝟑𝟑. 𝟑 ≈ 𝟑𝟑 ( 𝒈𝒕𝒕 )
𝟑𝟎 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒏
Cefuroxime sodium 1 g in 50 ml normal saline is to be administered over 30 minutes, the drop
factor is 15 drops/ ml , the nurse sets the flow rate to how many drops per minute?

𝒈𝒕𝒕
𝟓𝟎 (𝒎𝒍) × 𝟏𝟓 ( )
𝒎𝒍 = 𝟐𝟓 ( 𝒈𝒕𝒕 )
𝟑𝟎 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒏

A physician prescribes 1000 ml D5W to infuse at a rate of 125 ml/hr, what time and date the
infusion will finish if it was started today april 7, 2018 at 10 am?

𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎 (𝒎𝒍)
𝒄𝒄 = 𝟖 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒖𝒏
𝟏𝟐𝟓 ( )
𝒉𝒓
The infusion will end today at April 7, 2018 at 6 PM

A physician prescribes 1 unit of packed RBC to infuse over 4 hours, the unit of blood contains
250 ml, the drop factor is 10 drops, a nurse prepares to set the flow rate to how many drops
per minute?

𝒈𝒕𝒕
𝟐𝟓𝟎 (𝒎𝒍) × 𝟏𝟎 ( )
𝒎𝒍 = 𝟏𝟎. 𝟒 ≈ 𝟏𝟎 ( 𝒈𝒕𝒕 )
𝟒 (𝒉𝒓𝒔) × 𝟔𝟎 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒏