A nurse is preparing to administer amoxicillin 30 mg/kg/day divided equally every 12 hr to a toddler who weighs 33 lb. Available is amoxicillin 200 mg/5 mL suspension. How many mL should the nurse administer? (Round the answer to the nearest tenth. Use a leading zero if it applies. Do not use a trailing zero.)
First, we need to convert the toddler's weight from pounds to kilograms:
33 lb = 33 lb / 2.2 = 15 kg
Next, calculate the total daily dose of amoxicillin:
30 mg/kg/day x 15 kg = 450 mg/day
Since the toddler is to receive this dose divided equally every 12 hours, the dose for each administration would be:
450 mg/day / 2 = 225 mg every 12 hours
Now, we need to calculate how many mL of the suspension contain 225 mg of amoxicillin:
200 mg / 5 mL = 225 mg / x mL
Cross multiply: 200x = 5 * 225
200x = 1125
x = 1125 / 200
x = 5.625
Therefore, the nurse should administer approximately 5.6 mL of amoxicillin every 12 hours to the toddler.