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O C T O B E R 2 0 1 4 | S U P P L E M E N T T O O U T P AT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E
Fentanyl 100 mg is a
reasonable dose for an adult.
a.
true
b.
false
Answer:
b
That dose of fentanyl would be lethal. The usual dose post-operatively is
between 25 and 100 mcg. How important is it to distinguish between the abbre-
viations mg and mcg? A microgram is 1/1000th of a milligram. Be sure that your
medication administrators have a firm grasp on both relative potencies and key
abbreviations.
A patient weighs 180 lbs.
This means he weighs about 81 kg.
a.
true
b.
false
Answer:
a
A kilogram is equal to about 2.2 pounds. If you don't have time to do the conver-
sion, remember that
the number of
pounds a patient
weighs is always a
little more than 2
times the number of
kilograms. The
responsibility for
dose validation may
exist on several lev-
els. In addition to the
M E D I C A T I O N S A F E T Y
LABEL MAKER Pre-printed labels take some
of the human error out of administering the
correct medication and dose.
