RN Nursing · Medication Administration and Dosage Calculations · Practice question
A nurse is preparing to administer clindamycin 300 mg by intermittent IV bolus over 30 min to a client who has chorioamnionitis for a staphylococcal infection. Available is clindamycin premixed In 50 mL 0.90% sodium chloride (NaCl). The nurse should set the IV pump to deliver how many mL/hr? (Round the answer to the nearest whole number. Use a leading zero if it applies. Do not use a trailing zero.) mL/hr
Answer & explanation
Correct:
To calculate the IV pump rate, use the formula: volume (mL) divided by time (hours). The clindamycin is prepared in 50 mL of 0.9% sodium chloride and is to be infused over 30 minutes. First, convert 30 minutes to hours: 30 minutes ÷ 60 minutes per hour = 0.5 hours. Then divide the volume by the time: 50 mL ÷ 0.5 hours = 100 mL per hour. The pump should therefore be set to 100 mL/hr. This is a straightforward infusion rate calculation. A common error students make is forgetting to convert minutes to hours before dividing, which would yield an incorrect answer of 1.67. Another potential mistake is confusing the dose in milligrams with the volume in milliliters; the dose information (300 mg) is relevant to verify that the correct concentration is being used, but the pump rate calculation depends only on the volume and infusion time. Rounding to the nearest whole number gives 100 mL/hr, which requires no rounding since the result is already a whole number, and no trailing zero is added. The keyed answer of 100 is confirmed correct.
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