1. Calculating Oral Dosage
Unit 44
Calculating Oral Dosage

2. Interpreting Drug Labels
Health care professionals must use extreme caution while preparing medications ordered by a physician.
Correct interpretation of drug labels is essential.

3. Interpreting Drug Labels
Information shown on the label includes:
Drug name
Dosage or strength with a unit of measurement
Manufacturer name
Quantity of medication the container holds
Special instructions for care
National Drug Code (NDC), which is a universal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) product identifier for human drugs

4. Interpreting Drug Labels
Health care professionals must read the label carefully before administering any medication.
It is essential to check the name of the drug, the dosage per unit, and any special precautions that must be followed.

5. Basic Principles of Calculating Oral Dosage
An oral medication is a medication taken by mouth. It is the most common route for administration of medications.
Oral medications are available in solid forms such as tablets, capsules, powders, and lozenges, or liquid forms such as solutions, elixirs, suspensions, and syrups.

6. Proportional Method of Calculating Oral Dosage
To use the proportional method, all units of measurement must be the same.
When the units of measurement are the same, a proportion is created to represent the information:

7. Formula Method of Calculating Oral Dosage
To use the formula method, all units of measurement must be the same.
Numbers are then inserted into the formula to find the correct amount of medication:

8. Calculating Oral Liquid Dosages
To calculate oral liquid amounts, the same procedures are used, but the liquid amount is used in place of the capsule.

9. Calculating Oral Dosage
Example: A doctor orders 300 milligrams (mg) of Terramycin suspension, an antibiotic. The dosage available contains 0.1 g per 5 milliliters (mL).
Known fact: 1 g = 1,000 mg
Therefore 0.1 g = 100 mg
Use the formula:

10. Calculating Oral Dosage
Set up a proportion:
100 mg x X mL = 5 mL x 300 mg
100X = 1,500
X = 15
The correct dose is 15 mL.

11. Practical Problem
A physician orders Klonopin 1 mg for a patient with hypertension (high blood pressure).
How many tablets should be given?

12. Practical Problem Create a proportion and solve:
The patient should be given 2 tablets of Klonopin.