RED RIVER COLLEGE

NURSING SKILLS LABORATORY

CALCULATIONS
PRACTICE TEST

1. Please read questions carefully.

2. Show your work for each answer. Be sure to:

• change all fractions to decimals
• round off to 2 decimal points for mL, mg and kg (where appropriate)
• for IV drip rates (gtt/ min) and flow rates (mL/ hr) round off to the nearest
whole number when applicable
• state the unit of measurement in each answer

3. There are a total of 20 marks.

4. The pass grade is 90% (18/20).

1. Each vial contains equivalent of 400mg
GENTAMYCIN Gentamycin.
For I.V. use Dilution not required.
40mg/mL Discard open solution after 24 hours at room
Usual Dosage: Adults: 250mg in temperature or 96 hours under refrigeration.
divided daily doses See enclosure for prescribing information.
CAUTION: Federal law prohibits EXPIRES 09/09/09
dispensing without prescription.

The physician’s order reads: Gentamycin 60 mg IV q8h

How many mLs are required for one dose?

2.
PHENOBARBITOL
For I.V. use only
1g/ 2mL
Usual Dosage: Adults: 100
mg IV CAUTION: Federal
law prohibits dispensing
without prescription.
Vial contains Phenobarbitol equivalent to 5g.
Keep from freezing.
Protect from light.
Discard open solution.
Read accompanying circular.
EXPIRES 09/09/09

The physician’s order reads: Phenobarbitol 100 mg IV daily X3

How many mLs are required for one dose?

3.
THIAMINE
HYDROCHLORIDE
For I.V. injection
100mg/mL
Usual Dosage: Adults: 250
IV daily CAUTION: Federal
law prohibits dispensing
without prescription.
Vial contains equivalent of 1g Thiamine
hydrochloride.
Dilution not required.
Discard open solution after 24 hours at room
temperature or 96 hours under refrigeration.
See enclosure for prescribing information.
EXPIRES 09/09/09

The physician’s order reads: Thiamine hydrochloride 75mg IV tid for 2 weeks

How many mLs are required for one dose?

4.
ADENOSINE
For I.V. use only
3mg/2mL
Usual Dosage: Adults: 6mg IV; may
repeat for a maximum of 2 times
CAUTION: Federal law prohibits
dispensing without prescription.
Each vial contains 30mL.
Keep from freezing.
Discard open solution after 8 hours at room
temperature or 72 hours under refrigeration.
Read accompanying circular.
EXPIRES 09/09/09

The physician’s order reads: Adenosine 6 mg IV stat

How many mLs are required for one dose?

5.
Add 5mL of sterile water for a final
TAZIDIME concentration of 500mg/5mL
For I.V. use Stable for 24 hours at room temperature or 3
500mg days in the refrigerator.
Read accompanying circular.
EXPIRES 09/09/09
CAUTION: Federal law prohibits
dispensing without prescription.

The physician’s order reads: Tazidime 200 mg IV q6h

a) How many mLs are required for one dose?

b) If there is medication left after you prepare your dose, how should you label the vial?
6.
TOBRAMYCIN For a FINAL Concentration Add sterile NS:
For I.V. use only of:
300mg 10mg/ mL 30 mL
50mg/ mL 6 mL
CAUTION: Federal law
prohibits dispensing 100mg/ mL 3 mL
without prescription.
Stable for 48 hours at room temperature or 7 days in the
EXPIRES 09/09/09 refrigerator. Read accompanying circular.

The physician’s order reads: Tobramycin 75mg IV q8h

a) Considering the information given above, how many mL of NS would you use to
reconstitute the medication? (give only one answer)

b) Based on how you answered 6a above, how many mLs are required for one dose?

7. The physician’s order reads: Oxacillin 300 mg IV q6h The patient weighs 43.5 kg.
The nursing drug guide recommends a maximum of 5 – 7.5 mg/kg/dose.

a) What is the maximum safe dose for this patient?

b) Is the ordered dose for your patient “safe”? (show your work to support how you
arrived at your answer)

8. The physician’s order reads: Ticar 35 mg IV q4h The patient weighs 14 lb.
The nursing drug guide recommends a maximum of 20 - 30 mg/kg/day.

a) What is the maximum safe individual dose for this patient?

b) Is the ordered dose for your patient “safe”? (show your work to support how you
arrived at your answer)
9. The physician’s order reads:
2 L of D5NS to infuse over 14 hours

a) How many mL/ h will the IV need to run at in order to deliver the solution as
ordered?

b) The drop factor of the IV tubing is 10 gtt/mL.

What should you set the drip rate (gtt/min) at in order to deliver the solution as
ordered?

10. The physician’s order reads:

100mL of NS to infuse over 30 min

a) How many mL/ h will the IV need to run at in order to deliver the solution as
ordered?

b) The drop factor of the IV tubing is 60 gtt/mL.

What should you set the drip rate (gtt/min) at in order to deliver the solution as
ordered?

11. The physician’s order reads:

1000mL of NS to infuse over 6 hours

a) How many mL/ h will the IV need to run at in order to deliver the solution as
ordered?

b) The drop factor of the IV tubing is 20 gtt/mL.

 What should you set the drip rate (gtt/min) at in order to deliver the solution as
ordered?

12. 1 L of D5W is to run over 10 hours.

After 4 hours, there are 400 mL remaining in the bag.

a) Is the IV ahead or behind?

(show your work to support how you arrived at your answer)

b) Recalculate a new flow rate (mL/ h) in order to finish the IV on time.

c) Does the new flow rate fit with acceptable practice? Explain your answer.

13. 500 mL of NS is to run over 4 hours.

After 2 hours, there are 350 mL remaining in the bag.

a) Is the IV ahead or behind?

(show your work to support how you arrived at your answer)

b) Recalculate a new flow rate (mL/ h) in order to finish the IV on time.

c) Does the new flow rate fit with acceptable practice? Explain your answer.

14.
 Contains the equivalent of 10mg Pronestyl.
PRONESTYL Dilution not required.
For I.V. use Discard open solution immediately.
1mg/mL See enclosure for prescribing information.
Usual Dosage: Adults: 5mg per EXPIRES 09/09/09
day for
10-14 days
CAUTION: Federal law prohibits
dispensing without prescription.

The physician’s order reads: Pronestyl 8 mg IV stat

You decide to give this by the direct IV method. The drug monograph states that IV infusion is
not to exceed 6 mg/ min.

a) How many mLs are required for one dose?

b) Over what period of time will you administer this dose? (if applicable, show your work
to support that the time period you select is safe)

c) Based on how you answered 14b above, how many mLs is that q15seconds?

15. The physician’s order reads: Aminophylline 80 mg/ h IV

The drug is supplied in a bag containing 500 mg of Aminophylline in 50 mL of solution.

a) What is the concentration (mg/ per 1 mL) of Aminophylline in the bag?

b) At what rate (mL/ h) would you deliver the medication?

16. The physician’s order reads: Regular Insulin 1 unit/ h IV

The drug is supplied in a bag containing 10 units of Regular Insulin in 100 mL of solution.

a) What is the concentration (units/ per 1 mL) of Regular Insulin in the bag?
 b) At what rate (mL/ h) would you deliver the medication?
DOSAGE CALCULATIONS PRACTICE TEST ANSWER KEY

1. 60 mg X 1 mL = 1.5 mL
40 mg

2. 100 mg X 2 mL = 0.2 mL
1000 mg

3. 75 mg X 1 mL = 0.75 mL
100 mg

4. 6 mg X 2 mL = 4 mL
3 mg

5a. 200 mg X 5 mL = 2 mL
500 mg

5b. TAZIDIME 500 mg/ 5mL

05/05/05 1400h km

6a.
3 mL is the best choice because the final concentration matches the dose that you need to give.
However, it would also be acceptable to use 6 mL or 30 mL.

6b. If you picked 3 mL for previous answer then:

75 mg X 1 mL = 0.75 mL
100 mg

If you picked 6 mL for previous answer then:

75 mg X 1 mL = 1.5 mL
50 mg
 If you picked 30 mL for previous answer then:

75 mg X 1 mL = 7.5 mL
10 mg

7a. 7.5 mg X 43.5 kg = 326.25 mg/ dose

7b. The maximum safe dose is 326.25 mg/ dose. YES the ordered dose is safe.
The patient is to receive 300 mg so →

8a. 14 lb = 6.36
kg
2.2

30 mg X 6.36 kg = 190.8 mg/ day

8b. The maximum safe dose is 189 mg/ day.

The patient is to receive
35 mg X 6 doses = 210 mg/ day so → NO the ordered dose is not safe.

9a. 2000 mL = 143 mL/ h

14 h

9b. 143 mL X 10 gtt/mL = 24 gtt/ min

60 min

10a. 100 mL = X__ X = 200 mL/ h

30 min 60 min

10b. 200 mL X 60 gtt/mL = 200 gtt/ min

60 min

11a. 1000 mL = X__ X = 167 mL/ h

6h 60 min

11b. 167 mL X 20 gtt/mL = 56 gtt/ min

 60 min

12a. 1000 mL = X X = 100 mL/ h

10 h 1h

100 mL/ h X 4h = 400 mL should be infused

out of a 1000 mL bag so there should be 600 mL left IV is AHEAD in the bag. But there
is 400 mL left so → (so IV needs to be slowed down)

12b. 400 mL = X X = 67 mL/ h

6h 1h
12c. It is usually acceptable practice to slow an YES, the new flow rate is acceptable. IV,
even to TKO →

13a. 500 mL = X X = 125 mL/ h

4h 1h

125 mL/ h X 2h = 250 mL should be infused

out of a 500 mL bag so there should be 250 mL left in IV is BEHIND
the bag. But there is 350 mL left so → (so IV needs to be speeded up)

13b. 350 mL = X X = 175 mL/ h

2h 1h

13c. Ordered rate is 125 mL/h. New rate = 175 mL/ h NO, the new flow
25% of 125 mL is 31 mL. which is more than the

Therefore could safely ↑ flow rate by 31 acceptable 156 mL/h → rate is not
mL to 156 mL/h → acceptable.
14a. 8 mg X 1 mL = 8 mL
1 mg

14b. Maximum rate is 6 mg/ min so 6 mg = 8 mg X = 1.33 min

min X NOTE: Students are generally
14c. 2 min = 8 15 sec “blocks” so 8 mL =
8 “blocks”
15a. 500 mg = 10 mg/ mL
 50 mL

15b. 80 mg X 1 mL = 8 mL/h
10 mg

16a. 10 units = 0.1 units/ mL

100 mL

16b. 1 unit X 1 mL = 10 mL/h

0.1 unit

required to give an IV medication

over a minimum of 2 minutes so
you should bump this answer up to
2 minutes. Because the drug
monograph gives you only a
minimum time for administering the
med, it is acceptable for you to
decide to do this.

1 mL/ 15 sec