A nurse is preparing to initiate a continuous intravenous (IV) infusion of dopamine for a … — NCLEX-RN

A nurse is preparing to initiate a continuous intravenous (IV) infusion of dopamine for a client who weighs $85 \text{ kg}$ . The healthcare provider prescribes dopamine to infuse at $5 \text{ mcg/kg/min}$ . The available premixed IV solution contains $400 \text{ mg}$ of dopamine in $250 \text{ mL}$ of $5\%$ dextrose in water. How many $\text{mL/hr}$ should the nurse program the infusion pump to deliver? (Record the answer to the nearest whole number).

Answer: 16 mL/hr

Answer

To safely administer a continuous weight-based IV infusion, the nurse must convert the prescribed dose (mcg/kg/min) into the pump setting format (mL/hr). This involves multiplying the client's weight by the dose to find the mcg/min, multiplying by 60 to find the mcg/hr, converting micrograms to milligrams to match the supplied medication, and dividing by the concentration of the IV bag. The exact calculation yields

15.9375 \text{ mL/hr}

, which correctly rounds to

16 \text{ mL/hr}

Step-by-Step Solution

Calculate the required dose in micrograms per minute.

85 \text{ kg} \times 5 \text{ mcg/kg/min} = 425 \text{ mcg/min}

Dosing is weight-based, so the total body weight must be multiplied by the prescribed rate.

Convert the per-minute dose to an hourly dose.

425 \text{ mcg/min} \times 60 \text{ min/hr} = 25,500 \text{ mcg/hr}

IV pumps are programmed in mL per hour, requiring the medication dose to be aligned with the hourly timeframe.

Convert the hourly dose from micrograms to milligrams.

25,500 \text{ mcg} \div 1000 \text{ mcg/mg} = 25.5 \text{ mg/hr}

The available medication concentration is provided in milligrams, so units must match before determining volume.

Determine the concentration of the available dopamine solution.

400 \text{ mg} \div 250 \text{ mL} = 1.6 \text{ mg/mL}

This establishes how many milligrams of dopamine are in each single milliliter of the IV fluid.

Calculate the infusion pump rate in mL/hr.

25.5 \text{ mg/hr} \div 1.6 \text{ mg/mL} = 15.9375 \text{ mL/hr}

Dividing the required hourly dose by the concentration yields the total fluid volume needed per hour.

Round the final answer to the nearest whole number.

16

The question explicitly requires recording the answer to the nearest whole number.

Key Concept

Weight-based intravenous continuous infusion rate calculation

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