Unit 44 Calculating Oral Dosage. Interpreting Drug Labels Health care professionals must use extreme...
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Transcript of Unit 44 Calculating Oral Dosage. Interpreting Drug Labels Health care professionals must use extreme...
Unit 44
Calculating Oral Dosage
Interpreting Drug Labels
• Health care professionals must use extreme caution while preparing medications ordered by a physician.
• Correct interpretation of drug labels is essential.
Interpreting Drug Labels
• Information shown on the label includes:– Drug name– Dosage or strength with a unit of measurement– Manufacturer name – Quantity of medication the container holds– Special instructions for care– National Drug Code (NDC), which is a universal Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) product identifier for human drugs
Interpreting Drug Labels
• Health care professionals must read the label carefully before administering any medication.
• It is essential to check the name of the drug, the dosage per unit, and any special precautions that must be followed.
Basic Principles of Calculating Oral Dosage
• An oral medication is a medication taken by mouth. It is the most common route for administration of medications.
• Oral medications are available in solid forms such as tablets, capsules, powders, and lozenges, or liquid forms such as solutions, elixirs, suspensions, and syrups.
Proportional Method of Calculating Oral Dosage
• To use the proportional method, all units of measurement must be the same.
• When the units of measurement are the same, a proportion is created to represent the information:
Formula Method of Calculating Oral Dosage
• To use the formula method, all units of measurement must be the same.
• Numbers are then inserted into the formula to find the correct amount of medication:
Calculating Oral Liquid Dosages
• To calculate oral liquid amounts, the same procedures are used, but the liquid amount is used in place of the capsule.
Calculating Oral Dosage• Example: A doctor orders 300 milligrams (mg) of
Terramycin suspension, an antibiotic. The dosage available contains 0.1 g per 5 milliliters (mL).– Known fact: 1 g = 1,000 mg– Therefore 0.1 g = 100 mg– Use the formula:
Calculating Oral Dosage
– Set up a proportion:
100 mg x X mL = 5 mL x 300 mg
100X = 1,500
X = 15– The correct dose is 15 mL.
Practical Problem• A physician orders Klonopin 1 mg for a patient
with hypertension (high blood pressure).
• How many tablets should be given?
Practical Problem
• Create a proportion and solve:
• The patient should be given 2 tablets of Klonopin.