What calculation is needed to determine the total milligrams when administering a bronchodilator at 10 mg/hr for 2.5 hours if it’s at a strength of 0.5%?

To determine the total milligrams of a bronchodilator administered at a rate of 10 mg/hr for 2.5 hours when the solution is at a strength of 0.5%, it is essential to first calculate how many milliliters are required to obtain 10 mg of the medication.

The 0.5% strength of the bronchodilator means there are 0.5 grams of medication in 100 mL of solution. To convert this to a more usable form, the concentration can also be expressed as 5 mg/mL (since 0.5 grams is equivalent to 500 mg). This concentration indicates that there are 5 milligrams of the active ingredient in every milliliter of the solution.

To achieve 10 mg of the medication, you would need to calculate how many milliliters of the solution are necessary. Dividing the desired dose (10 mg) by the concentration (5 mg/mL) tells you that you need 2 mL of the solution.

From this calculation, you can see that determining the mL required to achieve the specified milligrams of medication is the crucial first step in administering the drug correctly and understanding how much of it you need over the duration mentioned. This