Medicine Dosage and Concentration Concepts

Which of these units is used to measure the weight or mass of an object?

• Milliliter (mL)

• Liter (L)

• Kilogram (kg)

• Second (s)

If a doctor orders a medicine in milligrams (mg) and the medicine comes in grams (g), what conversion is needed?

• Convert grams to milliliters

• Convert milligrams to kilograms

• Convert grams to milligrams

• Convert pounds to kilograms

The amount of medicine in a liquid is called its concentration. If a solution has 0.9 grams of medicine per milliliter, what does this mean?

• Each milliliter of the solution contains 0.9 grams of medicine.

• The entire bottle of solution weighs 0.9 grams.

• You need 0.9 milliliters of solution for every gram of medicine.

• The medicine should be taken 0.9 times a day.

A patient's weight is given in kilograms (kg). If a medicine dosage is based on pounds (lb), what should a nurse do first?

• Give the medicine immediately.

• Convert the patient's weight from kilograms to pounds.

• Ask the doctor to change the dosage unit.

• Measure the patient's height.