Formula sheets, the key method steps for every topic and 6 practice problems, with full solutions at the back.
Which finding suggests repeated self-induced vomiting?
An overweight 12-year-old has had a limp and knee pain for 3 weeks. The knee looks normal. What should the nurse suspect?
Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). A bag contains 10 000 units of heparin in 250 mL. The order is 16 units/kg/h for a patient who weighs 100 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 90 kg has an order for norepinephrine at 4 mcg/min. The bag contains 4 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 8-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).
Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). A 500 mL bag was started at 08:00 and runs by pump at 80 mL/h. How many mL V are left in the bag at 12:30?
Answer: D · Calluses on the knuckles and loss of tooth enamel
Calluses on the knuckles (Russell's sign) from inducing vomiting, enamel erosion, swollen salivary glands and low potassium are signs of repeated vomiting, as in bulimia nervosa.
Answer: C · Slipped capital femoral epiphysis
Slipped capital femoral epiphysis typically affects overweight adolescents during the growth spurt. Hip pathology often presents as knee pain. The child should avoid weight-bearing and needs urgent orthopaedic assessment.
Answer: R = 40 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 = 15 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: B = 730 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: V = 140 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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