Prescribing Skills (Part 5 of 8 - Drug Calculation Skills)

Drug Calculation Skills

Units

Mutliple Choice Question

The same nurse asks you to review another prescription for 500 micrograms of thyroxine for a patient. She says the dose seems unusual to her, but does not explain why. The patient tells you that she is unsure of her regular dose, but normally takes "one white tablet for my thyroid" . You have a look at the GP letter which states that her regular dose of thyroxine is 0.05mg.


What would be the correct prescription for her thyroxine? Look in the BNF double-check your answer.

The above example demonstrates the importance of


a) working in the same units (do not convert micrograms to mg if the drug is normally prescribed in micrograms )


b) avoid using decimel points (ie. 0.005, 0.05). Use whole numbers (25, 50).


c) use the correct unit abbreviations (ie microgram, not mcg).


d) be familiar with converting smaller to larger units/ vice versa. See below.


e) CHECKING THE BNF!