Micrograms In Nursing

Nurses also use ratios and proportions when administering medication. Nurses need to know how much medicine a patient needs depending on their weight. Nurses need to be able to understand the doctor’s orders. Such an order may be given as: 25 mcg/kg/min. If the patient weighs 52kg, how many milligrams should the patient receive in one hour? In order to do this, nurses must convert micrograms (mcg) to milligrams (mg). If 1mcg = 0.001mg, we can find the amount (in mg) of 25mcg by setting up a proportion.

By cross-multiplying and dividing, we see that 25mcg = 0.025mg. If the patient weighs 52kg, then the patient receives 0.025(52) = 1.3mg per minute. There are 60 minutes in an hour, so in one hour the patient should receive 1.3(60) = 78mg. Nurses use ratios and proportions daily, as well as converting important units. They have special “shortcuts” they use to do this math accurately and efficiently in a short amount of time.
Numbers give doctors much information about a patient’s condition.
White blood cell counts are generally given as a numerical value between 4 and 10. However, a count of 7.2 actually means that there are 7200 white blood cells in each drop of blood (about a microlitre). In much the same way, the measure of creatinine (a measure of kidney function) in a blood sample is given as X mg per deciliter of blood. Doctors need to know that a measure of 1.3 could mean some extent of kidney failure. Numbers help doctors understand a patient’s condition. They provide measurements of health, which can be warning signs of infection, illness, or
disease.