Nursing Pharmacology Dosage and Calculations Practice Test QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS WITH RATIONALE

1. The nurse is administering mannitol to the client with a head injury. The order reads 1,000 mL IVPB over 6 hours. At which rate should the nurse administer the medication via a pump? Answer: mL per hour. 2. The client diagnosed with bacterial endocarditis is prescribed gentamicin IV piggyback (IVPB). The IVPB comes in 100 mL of fluid to be administered over 1 hour on an IV pump. At what rate should the nurse administer the medication? Answer: mL. 3. A health care provider’s prescription reads 1000 mL of normal saline (NS) to infuse over 12 hours. The drop factor is 15 drops (gtt)/1 mL. The nurse prepares to set the flow rate at how many drops per minute? Fill in the blank. Record your answer to the nearest whole number. Answer: drops per minute. 4. A health care provider prescribes 1000 mL D5W to infuse at a rate of 125 mL/hour. The nurse determines that it will take how many hours for 1 L to infuse? Fill in the blank. Answer: hour(s) 5. A health care provider prescribes heparin sodium, 1300 units/hour by continuous intravenous (IV) infusion. The pharmacy prepares the medication and delivers an IV bag 20,000 units/250 mLD5W. An infusion pump must be used to administer the medication. The nurse sets the infusion pump at how many milliliters per hour to deliver 1300 units/hour? Fill in the blank. Record the answer to the nearest whole number. Answer: mL per hour 6. A health care provider’s prescription reads morphine sulfate, 8 mg stat. The medication ampule reads morphine sulfate, 10 mg/mL. The nurse prepares how many milliliters to administer the correct dose? Fill in the blank. Answer: mL 7. A health care provider prescribes regular insulin, 8 units/hour by continuous intravenous (IV) infusion. The pharmacy prepares the medication and then delivers an IV bag labeled 100 units of regular insulin in 100 mL normal saline (NS). An infusion pump must be used to administer the medication. The nurse sets the infusion pump at how many milliliters per hour to deliver 8 units/hour? Fill in the blank. Answer: mL/hour 8. A child weighs 11.2 kg and has an order for Acyclovir 120 mg IV every 8 hours. The safe dose range (SDR) of Acyclovir is 25-50 mg/kg/day. What is the SDR in mg for this child in 24 hours? Round to nearest tenth. 9. A child weighs 11.2 kg and has an order for Acyclovir 120 mg IV every 8 hours. The safe dose range (SDR) of Acyclovir is 25-50 mg/kg/day. What is the divided dose range in mg for this child? Round to nearest tenth. 10. A pediatric patient is prescribed to receive 5 mg/kg/day of a medication, divided in two equal doses. If the child weighs 48 pounds, how much medication is the nurse supposed to administer? a. 54 mg b. 80 mg c. 55 mg d. 78 mg