Question 11

10 pts

The physician orders penicillin VK 500,000 units IM for a patient. Your facility has

1,000,000 units / 1 mL on hand. Your trainee has drawn up 1.5 mL. In 100 words, explain if

the trainee calculated the correct amount. If not, how much medication should have been

drawn up and how would did you check your answer?

the trainee calculated the incorrect amount

It should be 0.5 mL

Step-by-step explanation:

The physician orders penicillin 500,000 units for a patient while the concentration of the drug you have is 1,000,000 units / 1mL. It's clear that 1mL drug is too much for the patient since 1,000,000 units are higher than 500,000 units.

The amount of penicillin in 1.5 mL will be definitely higher than 1,000,000 units, so it must be a lot higher than the physician's orders. We can roughly guess that the trainee draws an incorrect amount.

To calculate the exact volume you need, you have to divide the amount of the drug you need with the concentration of the drug. The calculation will be:

the volume needed = amount of the drug you need / concentration of the drug

volume needed = 500,000 units / (1,000,000 units / 1mL) = 1/2 mL = 0.5 mL