Formula sheets, the key method steps for every topic and 6 practice problems, with full solutions at the back.
A breastfed infant has gastroenteritis with mild dehydration. What should the nurse advise?
A 4-year-old has had pallor, tiredness, bruising, bone pain and fevers for 3 weeks. What is the most important next step?
Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). A practice protocol calls for a heparin bolus of 70 units/kg for a patient who weighs 53 kg. The vial contains 1 000 units/mL. What volume V do you draw up? Round to one decimal place.
Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). A patient who weighs 91 kg has an order for nitroglycerin at 30 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 IV infusion ran at the rate shown for the whole shift. Find the total intake I in mL.
Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). A 500 mL bag runs by pump at 150 mL/h. At 11:00, 200 mL have already been infused. How many hours t until the bag is empty? Round to one decimal place.
Answer: A · Continue breastfeeding, and give oral rehydration solution as advised
Breastfeeding should continue during gastroenteritis, with oral rehydration solution added when there are signs of dehydration. Withholding feeds slows recovery and juice can worsen diarrhoea.
Answer: D · An urgent full blood count to look for leukaemia
Pallor (low red cells), bruising (low platelets), infections or fever (abnormal white cells) and bone pain from marrow expansion together suggest leukaemia. An urgent full blood count and blood film are needed.
Answer: V = 3.7 mL
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 = 18 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: I = 1510 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.
Answer: t = 2 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 2 h 00 min, so the bag runs out at about 13:00.
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