A healthcare provider prescribes one 250 mg capsule of amoxicillin to be administered tid for 5 days to a client.
Calculate the number of capsules of amoxicillin required for 5 days.

To calculate the rate (in mL/hr) at which the IV pump should be programmed to deliver the dose of esmolol, we can use the following formula:

Rate (mL/hr) = (Dose × Patient weight × 60) / (Concentration × Time)

Given:

Dose = 2.5 grams Patient weight = 110 lb Concentration = 250 mL

Time = 1 hour (since the dose is given per hour)

Converting the patient's weight from pounds to kilograms:

Patient weight = 110 lb ÷ 2.2046 = 49.9 kg

Substituting the values into the formula:

Rate (mL/hr) = (2.5 g × 49.9 kg × 60) / (250 mL × 1)

Simplifying the equation:

Rate (mL/hr) = (2.5 × 49.9 × 60) / 250

Rate (mL/hr) = 74.85

Rounding to the nearest whole number, the nurse should program the IV pump to deliver 75 mL/hr.

Therefore, the correct answer is c. 75 mL/hr.

This action should be taken by the nurse before administering the medication because the use of a trailing zero after a decimal point (5.0 mg) is a common cause of medication errors and should be avoided. A trailing zero may be misread or misinterpreted as a larger dose (50 mg) or omited altogether, resulting in a 10-fold overdose or underdose, respectively. For example, when prescriptions have been writen for "Coumadin 1.0 mg," patients have received 10 mg in error. Therefore, the nurse should clarify the intended dose with the healthcare provider and use the correct notation (5 mg) without a trailing zero.

The other options are not appropriate actions because:

a) Discussing the use of PO (by mouth) with the healthcare provider is not necessary, as PO is a standard route of administration for Haldol (haloperidol) and does not pose a risk of confusion or error.

b) Discussing the use of tid (three times a day) with the healthcare provider is not necessary, as tid is a standard frequency of administration for Haldol and does not pose a risk of confusion or error.

c) Discussing the use of Haldol with the healthcare provider is not relevant to the question, as Haldol is the prescribed medication for the patient who is agitated and does not need to be changed or questioned by the nurse.