Which of the following medications should be administered whole (e.g., not divided or crushed for administration)?

To find the answer, we need to convert the units of the medication order and the infusion rate to the same units. We can use the following conversions:

1 mcg = 0.001 mg 1 kg = 1000 g 1 min = 60 s 1 h = 3600 s

The medication order is 140 mcg/kg/min, which means the patient needs 140 mcg of medication per kilogram of body weight per minute. The patient weighs 60 kg, so we multiply 140 mcg by 60 kg to get the total amount of medication per minute:

140 mcg/kg/min x 60 kg = 8400 mcg/min

We then convert this to milligrams by dividing by 1000:

8400 mcg/min / 1000 = 8.4 mg/min

The infusion rate is 10 mL/h, which means the patient receives 10 mL of fluid per hour. We convert this to minutes by dividing by 60:

10 mL/h / 60 = 0.167 mL/min

We can now find the concentration of the medication in the fluid by dividing the amount of medication per minute by the amount of fluid per minute:

8.4 mg/min / 0.167 mL/min = 50.3 mg/mL

This means that for every milliliter of fluid, there are 50.3 milligrams of medication. To find how many milligrams of medication are in one hour, we multiply the concentration by the infusion rate:

50.3 mg/mL x 10 mL/h = 503 mg/h

This is the total amount of medication that the patient receives in one hour. To find how many milligrams are in one dose, we divide this by the number of doses per hour, which is one:

503 mg/h / 1 dose/h = 503 mg/dose

This is the final answer, but we need to round it to the nearest tenth, as per the instructions: 503 mg/dose ≈ 67.2 mg/dose

First, we need to convert the patient's weight from pounds to kilograms using the conversion factor 1 kg =

2.2 lb:

154 lb / 2.2 lb/kg = 70 kg

Next, we need to calculate the dose of nitroprusside in mcg/min using the formula Dose = Weight × Dosage:

Dose = 70 kg × 3 mcg/kg/min = 210 mcg/min

Then, we need to convert the dose of nitroprusside from mcg/min to mg/hr using the conversion factor 1 mg = 1000 mcg:

210 mcg/min × 1 mg/1000 mcg × 60 min/hr = 12.6 mg/hr

Finally, we need to calculate the rate of nitroprusside in mL/hr using the formula Rate = Dose/Concentration:

Rate = 12.6 mg/hr / 100 mg/mL = 0.126 mL/hr

To round to the nearest hundredth, we get 0.13 mL/hr, which is approximately equal to 1.26 mL/hr.

Therefore, the nurse should program the IV pump to deliver nitroprusside at a rate of 1.26 mL/hr.