A practical nurse is preparing to administer the morning dose of a prescribed oral antibio… — NCLEX-PN

A practical nurse is preparing to administer the morning dose of a prescribed oral antibiotic to a pediatric client. The child weighs $35\text{ lb } 4\text{ oz}$ . The primary health care provider has prescribed cefdinir $14\text{ mg/kg/day}$ PO to be administered in two equally divided doses. The pharmacy dispenses cefdinir oral suspension with a concentration of $125\text{ mg}/5\text{ mL}$ . How many $\text{mL}$ should the nurse administer for the morning dose? (Record the answer to the nearest tenth. Do not include units in your answer.)

Answer: 4.5 mL

Answer

4.5

The correct calculation requires six sequential steps: accurately representing ounces as a decimal of a pound, converting to kilograms, finding the total daily dosage, splitting it into a single dose, computing the volume using the provided concentration, and rounding to the nearest tenth.

Step-by-Step Solution

Convert the client's fractional weight from ounces to pounds.

4\text{ oz} \div 16\text{ oz/lb} = 0.25\text{ lb}

. Total weight is

35.25\text{ lb}

Weight must be in a standard decimal format before converting to kilograms.

Convert the weight from pounds to kilograms.

35.25\text{ lb} \div 2.2\text{ lb/kg} = 16.022...\text{ kg}

, which rounds to

16.0\text{ kg}

The medication dosage is prescribed based on the client's weight in kilograms.

Calculate the total daily medication requirement.

16.0\text{ kg} \times 14\text{ mg/kg/day} = 224\text{ mg/day}

This establishes the maximum therapeutic amount the child should receive over a 24-hour period.

Calculate the individual dose amount.

224\text{ mg/day} \div 2 = 112\text{ mg/dose}

The order specifies administration in two equally divided doses, not as a single bolus.

Determine the liquid volume required for the single dose.

(112\text{ mg} \div 125\text{ mg}) \times 5\text{ mL} = 4.48\text{ mL}

This matches the ordered dose to the available physical concentration provided by the pharmacy.

Round the final answer according to instructions.

4.48\text{ mL}

rounds up to

4.5\text{ mL}

Standard medication calculation rules and the stem's instructions require rounding to the nearest tenth for volumes greater than

1\text{ mL}

Key Concept

Multi-step pediatric weight-based dosage calculation requiring unit conversion, fractioned dosing, and liquid concentration computation.

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