Dosage Calculation Made Easy Solving Problems Using Dimensional Analysis 8TH Edition Exam

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Sample questions from Dosage Calculation Made Easy Solving Problems Using Dimensional Analysis 8TH Edition Exam

This material has 90 questions with answers and rationales. Here are the first 5.

1. 1.A prescription reads 250 mg by mouth. The medication is available as 500 mg tablets. How many tablets should the nurse administer?

   • A.0.5 tablet
   • B.1 tablet
   • C.2 tablets
   • D.4 tablets

   Rationale: Set up 250 mg x 1 tablet/500 mg to get 0.5 tablet. One tablet gives twice the prescribed dose, 2 tablets give four times the dose, and 4 tablets give eight times the dose. Canceling the matching units helps prevent reversing the available dose and prescribed dose.

2. 2.A patient is prescribed 0.75 g of a medication. How many milligrams should the nurse administer?

   • A.75 mg
   • B.750 mg
   • C.7,500 mg
   • D.0.075 mg

   Rationale: Because 1 g equals 1,000 mg, 0.75 g x 1,000 mg/1 g equals 750 mg. The other choices result from shifting the decimal in the wrong direction or by the wrong number of places. Convert to the unit used in the dose before calculating the amount to administer.

3. 3.A prescription is for 1.2 mg. How many mcg is this?

   • A.12 mcg
   • B.120 mcg
   • C.1,200 mcg
   • D.12,000 mcg

   Rationale: One milligram equals 1,000 mcg, so 1.2 mg equals 1,200 mcg. The choices 12 and 120 mcg are too small, while 12,000 mcg is ten times too large. Remember that converting from mg to mcg requires multiplying by 1,000.

4. 4.A child weighs 44 lb. What is the child's weight in kilograms? Round to the nearest tenth. Use 1 kg = 2.2 lb.

   • A.10.0 kg
   • B.20.0 kg
   • C.22.0 kg
   • D.96.8 kg

   Answer and rationale are in the full material.

5. 5.The provider prescribes 0.4 mg. Tablets contain 0.2 mg each. How many tablets should the nurse administer?

   • A.0.5 tablet
   • B.1 tablet
   • C.2 tablets
   • D.4 tablets

   Answer and rationale are in the full material.