Registered Nurse
Assessment of Drug Competences
Assessment E
Name…………………………………………….
Introduction
This assessment has been designed as a tool to use as part of the selection process. It
provides an indication as to your current competence at administering drugs. It is not a
complete assessment as there are obvious practical considerations which we are unable
to assess as part of the selection process.
Instructions
You have 20 minutes to complete this drug assessment.
The marks awarded are illustrated and this should give an indication as to the expected
depth of an answer.
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Candidates can use a calculator. Please indicate your workings clearly.
Please ensure your answers are clear and that they indicate the unit or measure.
Please ensure you utilise the correct UK symbol for a decimal point.
To assist candidates common formulae are included on the next page.
Page 1 of 6
FORMULAE
Units of Weight
1 kg = 1000 g
(grams)
1g
= 1000 mg (milligrams)
1 mg = 1000 mcg (micrograms)
1 mcg = 1000 ng
(nanograms)
Units of Volume
1 litre = 1000 ml (millilitres)
1 ml
= 1000 mcl (microlitres)
CONCENTRATIONS
Percentage concentrations
Dissolved substance is measured in grams of drug in 100 ml (millilitre) of solvent.
1%
=
1 gram in 100 ml
5%
=
5 g in 100ml
20%
=
20 g in 100 ml
50%
=
50 g in 100 ml
Weight or Volume Ratios
Any amount dissolved in any volume
1 in 1000
= 1 g in 1000 ml
1 in 10 000
= 1 g in 10 000 ml
or
or
1000 mg in 1000 ml
1000 mg in 10 000 ml
ADMINISTRATION SETS
Standard solution set
100 micron filter
For clear crystalloid or colloid fluids
Burette set
100 micron filter
Fluid measuring chamber and microdropper
Standard Blood set
170 micron filter
For blood and fresh frozen plasma
Not recommended for clear fluids due to large micro
filter which will not protect patient from particulate
produced in manufacturing
Platelet set
170 micron filter
For platelets or cryoprecipitate only
or 1 mg/ml
or 1mg in 10 ml
delivers 20 drops per ml
Delivers 60 drops per ml
Deliver 15 drops per ml of
blood
(20 drops per ml of clear fluids:
not recommended)
Deliver 15 drops per ml
FORMULA:
Dose prescribed
Dose available
X volume of solution
or
what you want
what you've got
X volume
FLOW RATES or
DRIP RATE CALCULATIONS:
(Check: 1. volume of solution to be infused 2. duration of infusion 3. drops per ml of administration set)
Drop rate/minute =
Volume to be infused X Drops per ml
Hours of infusion time
60 (minutes in hour)
Or Drops/min = ml/h x drops per ml
60 (min/h)
INFUSION CALCULATIONS
ml / h
=
(desired mcg / kg/ min) X patient weight (kg) X 60 (minutes)
concentration of solution in mcg/ml
mcg / kg / min
=
concentration of solution (mcg/ml) X infusion rate (ml/h)
patient weight (kg)
X
60 (minutes)
Page 2 of 6
Part B
Competence: Is able to convert metric units.
Understanding of basic prescribing abbreviations
Please indicate, where necessary, which units your answers are in e.g. mgs
One mark for
each correct
answer
13. Change 0.75g to mg
/1
14. A patient is prescribed 750mg of Ciprofloxacin per day. How
many 250mg tablets will they have taken in 24hrs?
/1
15. A dose of Prednisolone 30mg is needed. If you only have 5mg
tablets, how many would you give?
/1
One mark for
each correct
answer
16. Change 600ml to litres
/1
17. Change 0.125litres to mls
/1
Page 3 of 6
Competence: Is able to calculate infusion rates
One mark for the
correct answer
18. What are the drops per minute for a prescription of 1litre of
normal saline to be administered over 6hrs in a giving set that
gives 20 drops per 1ml? (please round up or down to the
nearest drop)
19. What are the drops per minute for a prescription of 400ml of
blood to be administered over 3hrs in a blood giving set that
gives 15 drops per 1ml?
/1
/1
Competence: Is able to convert IV into oral
20. The ratio of IV morphine to oral morphine is 1mg IV = 3mg Oral
A patient is converting from IV morphine to oral and you wish to
check the conversion before administration. If the patient was
receiving 84mg IV per 24 hours what will his total oral dose be?
Page 4 of 6
One mark for the
correct answer
/1
Competence: Is able to calculate the volume of fluid required
21. If the solution contains 50mcg of Digoxin per 1ml, how many
mls of Digoxin liquid are required to give a dose of 125mcg?
22. If the solution contains 100mg of ibuprofen per 5mls, how many
mls of ibuprofen are required to give a dose of 400mg?
One mark for the
correct answer
/1
/1
Competence: Is able to calculate infusion rates
23. An infusion is to be given at a dose of 3mg/hr. You need to
determine the rate that the pump should be set.
One mark for the
correct answer
The solution is 0.04%w/v (0.04g in 100ml).
a) How many mgs in 100mls?
/1
b) How many mg per ml?
/1
c) How many ml per hour does the pump need to be set at?
/1
Competence: Is able to calculate the time for an infusion
24. A dose of 160mg of Furosemide is to be given. The maximum
rate of infusion is 4mg/minute. What is the shortest amount of
time over which the dose can be given?
Page 5 of 6
One mark for the
correct answer
/1
Competence: Is able to calculate the ratio of the drug in relation to body weight
One mark for the
correct answer
25. A patient is to receive an infusion of Dopamine. Dopamine is
made up as 200mg in 500mls.
a) calculate the number of mg per ml
/1
b) convert this to the number of mcg / ml
/1
Given that the patient weighs 75 kgs, and the desired
mcg / kg /min is 4:
c) calculate the infusion rate in mls / hour using the formula on
page 2:
/1
Total for Part B
/17Marks
Total
/25 Marks
Percentage
=
Page 6 of 6
%