calculation help

[pokemonman]

Hey there, I've seen several ways of doing it and was wondering what you guys do in practice. I am a bit confused For antibiotic dosing volumes that require a 10 ml syringe with 0.2 ml graduations... How do you typically round the volumes?

We are taught to round to the nearest 0.2 mL

For example 3.33 mL -> 3.2 mL or 3.4 mL

3.85 mL --> 3.8 mL or 4 mL

Do you go round up or round down...or as long as it is within the therapeutic range it does not matter? Thank you

thank you
i am p1

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[steveysmith54]

are u talking about for IV preparation or just suspension for kids(who spit out some of their meds anyways)? In real practice, doesn't really matter that much unless it's maybe NICU then you'd use 0.1ml graduated syringes. I usually just round up for that kind of stuff. If I am dosing lovenox, I round down.

 

[pokemonman]

suspension for kids in the community setting. thank you!

 

[steveysmith54]

suspension for kids in the community setting. thank you!

Looking at your examples, in real practice, you'd type the exact number in sigs of the rx rounded to the tenth place... So, if the exact calc is 3.85, I'd type "take 3.9ml PO daily" etc. Then when you counsel, you show them the syringe and tell them it's a bit less than 4 ml. Do not type "4ml" in the sigs bc that's is technically not exactly right, also the pt can obtain a more accurate syringe and measure out 3.9ml if desired (again never seen in real practice). However, as stated before, in real life this difference is not relevant.

 

[pokemonman]

ah i see. so by the example...you go between the graduations and say its above 3.8 and below 4ml and that would be the sweet spot.?

much appreciated thank you!

 

[steveysmith54]

ah i see. so by the example...you go between the graduations and say its above 3.8 and below 4ml and that would be the sweet spot.?

much appreciated thank you!

yes, exactly...

 

[zelman]

Hey there, I've seen several ways of doing it and was wondering what you guys do in practice. I am a bit confused For antibiotic dosing volumes that require a 10 ml syringe with 0.2 ml graduations... How do you typically round the volumes?

We are taught to round to the nearest 0.2 mL

For example 3.33 mL -> 3.2 mL or 3.4 mL

3.85 mL --> 3.8 mL or 4 mL

Do you go round up or round down...or as long as it is within the therapeutic range it does not matter? Thank you

thank you
i am p1

Put down what the doctor wrote. Counsel them on how to take it realistically.

Therapy may fail, and you don't want the doctor blaming you for not putting down 3.875mL since the extra 0.075mL may have killed that nasty infection.

 

[Wheresmyaricept]

Tell the parents to find a new pediatrician that count round to the nearest ml. Seriously, an extra 20 mg of amoxicillin won't kill Charlie.