Answer :
Final answer:
To calculate the volume of heparin to administer: convert the patient's weight to kilograms, multiply by the dosage rate to find the total units required, and divide by the concentration of heparin to determine the volume in milliliters. The nurse should administer approximately 1.123 mL of heparin to the patient.
Explanation:
The student has asked how much volume of heparin should be administered to a patient weighing 165 pounds when the doctor has ordered a dosage of 75 units per kilogram of patient weight and the heparin concentration is 5000 units per milliliter. To solve this problem, we first convert the patient's weight from pounds to kilograms. Since 1 pound is approximately 0.453592 kilograms, the patient's weight in kilograms is 165 lb × 0.453592 kg/lb = 74.8428 kg (rounded to 74.84 kg for simplicity).
Next, we calculate the total dosage required in units using the given dosage rate: 75 units/kg × 74.84 kg = 5613 units. Now, to find the volume to administer, we divide the total dosage in units by the concentration of the heparin solution: 5613 units ÷ 5000 units/mL = 1.1226 mL. Therefore, the nurse administers approximately 1.123 mL (rounded to three decimal places).
