Medications and dose calculation
The rights of medication administration, the oral, IM, SC, ID and IV routes, dose and drip-rate calculation with worked examples, and high-alert medications.
16 pages
Calculation
- Continuous infusions: concentration and rate per kilogram per minuteFor continuous infusions, work out the concentration of the mixture and convert the ordered dose…
- Dose calculation: the formula method and dimensional analysisTo know how many tablets or millilitres to give, divide the ordered dose by the available…
- IV flow rates: millilitres per hour and drops per minuteWith a pump the rate is set in mL/h; with a gravity set, drops per minute are counted using the…
- Weight-based doses (per kilogram) and paediatric safetyMany doses, especially in children, are ordered per kilogram: multiply by the actual weight and…
Procedure
- Continuous subcutaneous infusion and hypodermoclysisFluids or some medicines run slowly into the tissue under the skin through a small cannula when…
- Giving IV medications: bolus and intermittent infusionGiven intravenously, a drug acts within minutes; so compatibility, the patency of the line and…
- Giving oral medications (and through a feeding tube)How to give medications by mouth or through a feeding tube safely: what may be crushed, how to…
- Intradermal injectionAn intradermal injection leaves a tiny amount just under the epidermis and raises a bleb; it is…
- Intramuscular injection: sites and techniqueAn intramuscular injection places the drug in a muscle; the site is found with bony landmarks so…
- Other routes: inhaled, topical, eye, ear, rectal and vaginalEach route has its own technique: where the drop goes, how to breathe with an inhaler, or how…
- Preparing parenteral medication: ampoules, vials and reconstitutionHow to draw up a drug from a glass ampoule or a vial with aseptic technique, and how to…
- Subcutaneous injectionA subcutaneous injection places the drug in the fat under the skin, where it is absorbed slowly…
Safe practice
- High-alert medicationsThese are drugs with a higher risk of serious harm when used in error; they need extra barriers…
- Medication reconciliationReconciliation means comparing the medications the patient took at home with those ordered on…
- Patient-controlled and epidural analgesia: the nursing checksA pump gives pain medicine on demand or through an epidural catheter; the nurse double-checks…
- The rights of medication administrationThe rights are checks made before every medication to prevent errors: right patient, drug, dose…
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Educational content for students; it does not replace your institution's protocols, supervised clinical training or a prescriber's order. Dose-calculation examples use made-up numbers: they are educational, not a clinical order.
Representative model, for educational purposes only.