Oxycodone hydrochloride 30 mg is ordered for a patient with pain after surgery. The patient rates the pain at a level of 8/10. Liquid oxycodone hydrochloride 20 mg/mL is available.
How many mL should be administered by the nurse?
0.5 mL
1 mL
2 mL
1.5 mL
The Correct Answer is D
This is a dosage calculation problem. To solve it, we need to use the formula:A
Desired dose ÷ Available dose × Available quantity = Quantity to give
In this case, the desired dose is 30 mg, the available dose is 20 mg/mL, and the available quantity is 1 mL. Plugging these values into the formula, we get:
30 ÷ 20 × 1 = 1.5
Therefore, the nurse should administer **1.5 mL** of liquid oxycodone hydrochloride to the patient.

Nursing Test Bank
Naxlex Comprehensive Predictor Exams
Related Questions
Correct Answer is D
Explanation
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.
Correct Answer is A
Explanation
To set the IV pump correctly, you need to calculate the following:
- The patient's weight in kilograms
- The dose of Zofran in milligrams
- The infusion rate in milliliters per hour
First, convert the patient's weight from pounds to kilograms by dividing by 2.2:
176 lb / 2.2 = 80 kg
Next, multiply the patient's weight by the dose of Zofran per kilogram to get the total dose in milligrams:
80 kg x 0.15 mg/kg = 12 mg
Then, use the formula for infusion rate to find how many milliliters per hour the IV pump should deliver:
Infusion rate (mL/h) = (Total volume (mL) x Flow factor (gt/mL)) / Time (min) x 60 min/h
Since the medication is mixed in 50 mL of normal saline and the infusion time is 15 minutes, plug in these values into the formula:
Infusion rate (mL/h) = (50 mL x 1 gt/mL) / 15 min x 60 min/h
Simplify and solve for the infusion rate:
Infusion rate (mL/h) = 200 mL/h
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