Med Math - How do we measure the right dose of a medication?
Let's start with the things that we measure
We measure things by weight, length, and volume using one of three systems
•1. Household system
• 2. Apothecary system
•3. Metric system
When measuring pills and liquid medication we use the metric system
The metric system is made up of grams, milligram, microgram for weight and milliliters (or cubic centimeters) for liquid volume
When dosing pills we measure in grams, milligrams or micrograms!
•A gram (GM) is a large amount for medication. For example we might give
one gram of tylenol
A gram can be broken up into smaller amounts called Milligrams (mg).
IT TAKES 1000 MILLIGRAMS TO EQUAL 1 GRAM
• Milligrams (mg) makes up a Gram (GM)
• Many medications are measured in milligrams. Medication doses can go
From .5 milligram to 1000 milligram. For example Tylenol comes in 365 mg
and 500mg and 1000mg
A milligram can be broken up into even smaller amounts called micrograms
IT TAKES 1000 MICROGRAMS TO EQUAL 1 MILLIGRAM (mgm)
• It takes 1000 Microgram (mcg) to make up one milligram
• A microgram is a very small amount. Only very powerful medications are measured in
micrograms
Liquid medications are extra special
When dosing liquid medication, we still measure in grams, milligrams or micrograms but
we also have to think about milliliters (ml) and cubic centimetre (cc)
A liquid medication is measured in
milliliters(ml) which is the same as cubic
centimeters (CC)
For example: liquid Tylenol is still dosed in milligrams but is given in
Milliliters (ML) or Cubic Centimeters (CC).
This can be confusing !!!
•For example – if you wanted to give 320 mg of a liquid medication that was made up of 160mg mixed up in 5 ml– how much would you give? 10 cc because
there is 160mg in 5ml and there is 320 mg in 10 ml
How do we measure liquid medication?
•We have to use something special to measure liquid medication.
•We can not use teaspoons or tablespoon to measure liquids because it is not an accurate measurement - We have to use either a dropper or a medication cup.
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