The healthcare provider prescribes amoxicillin 500 mg every 8 hours for a child who weighs 88 pounds. The recommended maximum safe dose is 50 mg/kg/24 hour. The available suspension is labeled, “Amoxicillin Suspension 250 mg/5 mL.” Based on this child’s weight, how many mL should the nurse administer? (Enter numerical value only. If rounding is required, round to the whole number.)
The correct answer and Explanation is :
To determine the correct dose of amoxicillin for the child, follow these steps:
- Convert the child’s weight to kilograms:
The child weighs 88 pounds. To convert pounds to kilograms, use the conversion factor 1 pound = 0.453592 kilograms. [
\text{Weight in kg} = 88 \text{ pounds} \times 0.453592 \text{ kg/pound} \approx 39.9 \text{ kg}
] - Calculate the maximum safe dose per day:
The recommended maximum dose is 50 mg/kg/day. [
\text{Maximum daily dose} = 50 \text{ mg/kg} \times 39.9 \text{ kg} \approx 1995 \text{ mg/day}
] - Determine the total daily dose based on the prescribed regimen:
The prescription is for 500 mg every 8 hours. There are 24 hours in a day, so: [
\text{Number of doses per day} = \frac{24 \text{ hours}}{8 \text{ hours/dose}} = 3 \text{ doses/day}
] [
\text{Total daily dose} = 500 \text{ mg/dose} \times 3 \text{ doses/day} = 1500 \text{ mg/day}
] Since 1500 mg/day is less than the maximum recommended dose of 1995 mg/day, the prescription is safe. - Calculate the volume of suspension needed per dose:
The available suspension is 250 mg/5 mL. To find out how many mL are needed for each dose of 500 mg: [
\text{Volume per dose} = \frac{500 \text{ mg}}{250 \text{ mg}} \times 5 \text{ mL} = 10 \text{ mL}
]
So, the nurse should administer 10 mL of the amoxicillin suspension per dose.