Formula sheets, the key method steps for every topic and 6 practice problems, with full solutions at the back.
How is a child's weight status (for example overweight) assessed?
The parent of a child on chemotherapy calls to say the child has a temperature of 38.5 °C (101.3 °F). What is the correct advice?
Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). A bag contains 12 500 units of heparin in 250 mL. The order is 16 units/kg/h for a patient who weighs 57 kg. At what rate R do you set the pump, in mL/h? Round to one decimal place.
Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). A patient who weighs 97 kg has an order for nitroglycerin at 20 mcg/min. The bag contains 25 mg in 250 mL. Find the pump rate R in mL/h. 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 patient weighs 64 kg. Find the average urine output U in mL/kg/h. Round to two decimal places.
Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). A 1000 mL bag was started at 11:15 and runs by pump at 50 mL/h. How many mL V are left in the bag at 13:45?
Answer: B · BMI plotted on an age- and sex-specific centile chart
In children, BMI is interpreted using age- and sex-specific centile charts, because normal BMI changes with growth. Adult cut-offs such as 25 and 30 do not apply to children.
Answer: C · Bring the child to hospital straight away for assessment and IV antibiotics
Fever during chemotherapy is treated as possible neutropenic sepsis. The child needs urgent assessment, blood tests and cultures, and IV antibiotics within the target time set by local policy; delay can be fatal.
Answer: R = 18.2 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: R = 12 mL/h
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.
The order is per minute for the whole patient, so the weight is not needed.
Answer: U = 1.43 mL/kg/h
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.
Answer: V = 875 mL
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.
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