Formula sheets, the key method steps for every topic and 6 practice problems, with full solutions at the back.
A parent asks how to care for a child with mild croup at home. Which advice is correct?
A newborn becomes deeply cyanotic within hours of birth and does not improve with oxygen. A prostaglandin infusion is started. What is its purpose?
Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). An infusion contains 250 units of regular insulin in 250 mL. The order is 0.05 units/kg/h for a patient who weighs 98 kg. Find the pump rate R in mL/h. Round to one decimal place.
Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). A dobutamine infusion of 500 mg in 250 mL runs at 25 mL/h. The patient weighs 63 kg. What dose D in mcg/kg/min is the patient receiving? Round to one decimal place.
Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). The record shows a patient's intake and output for one 12-hour shift. The IV infusion ran at the rate shown for the whole shift. Find the fluid balance B = intake − output in mL (a negative answer means a net loss). Count ice chips as half their volume.
Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). A 1000 mL infusion starts at 15:30 at 80 mL/h. After 3 hours the rate is changed to 200 mL/h and is not changed again. How many hours t after the start will the bag be empty? Round to one decimal place.
Answer: C · Keep the child calm and upright, and get urgent help if there is noisy breathing at rest
Calm and comfort reduce distress and airway narrowing. Steam inhalation is not effective and risks scalds. Parents should seek urgent help for stridor at rest, retractions, drooling, blue colour or drowsiness.
Answer: D · To keep the ductus arteriosus open so that the two circulations can mix
In duct-dependent lesions such as transposition of the great arteries, the open ductus lets blood mix between the circulations until surgery. Prostaglandin E1 keeps the duct open; the baby is monitored for apnoea.
Answer: R = 4.9 mL/h
Heparin and insulin infusions: concentration = units in the bag/bag volume (units/mL). Pump rate (mL/h) = units per hour/concentration, and units per hour = mL/h × concentration. For a weight-based order, units/h = units/kg/h × weight first. A bolus volume = units needed/vial strength. The numbers are for practice only; at the bedside always follow local protocols and have high-risk doses double-checked.
Answer: D = 13.2 mcg/kg/min
Titrated drips: first find the concentration in mcg/mL (mg × 1000/mL). For a weight-based order, mcg/min = mcg/kg/min × weight. Then mL/h = mcg/min × 60/concentration. Working backwards, mcg/kg/min = mL/h × concentration/(60 × weight). The numbers are for practice only; at the bedside always follow local protocols and have high-risk doses double-checked.
Answer: B = 310 mL
Intake and output: intake counts everything that goes in (oral fluids, IV infusions, IV medications and flushes, tube feeds); ice chips count as half their volume. Output counts urine, drains, vomit and other losses. Balance = total intake − total output; a negative balance is a net loss. The numbers are for practice only; at the bedside always follow local protocols and have high-risk doses double-checked.
Positive: more fluid went in than came out.
Answer: t = 6.8 h
Infusion time: time (h) = volume to infuse (mL)/rate (mL/h); use the volume still left in the bag, not the bag size. Volume infused = rate × time. Convert decimal hours to hours and minutes with the fraction × 60 (0.5 h = 30 min, not 50 min). The numbers are for practice only; at the bedside always follow local protocols and have high-risk doses double-checked.
That is about 6 h 48 min, so the bag runs out at about 22:18.
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