Practice Question
A nurse is transcribing medication prescriptions for a group of clients. Which of the following is the appropriate way for the nurse to record medications that require the use of a decimal point?
Answer Choices:
Correct Answer:
0.5 mL
Rationale:
0.5 mL
🔹 The correct and safe way to document decimal dosages in medication transcription is to use a leading zero before a decimal (e.g., 0.5 mL) to prevent dangerous misreading.
🔹 Writing “.5 mL” without a leading zero could be mistaken for “5 mL,” which can result in a ten-fold overdose, so including the zero is a required safety standard.
🔹 Medication safety guidelines from organizations such as ISMP and The Joint Commission state that a leading zero must always be used when a dose is less than 1.
🔹 “0.5 mL” clearly expresses the correct volume without introducing potential for misinterpretation or transcription errors.
🔹 Therefore, 0.5 mL is the only option that follows safe medication documentation practices.
0.90 mL
🔹 Although it includes a leading zero, this notation is incorrect because it contains a trailing zero, which is strictly prohibited in medication transcription.
🔹 Trailing zeros (e.g., 0.90 mL) can be misread as 0.900 mL, contributing to significant dosing inaccuracies.
🔹 The Joint Commission explicitly forbids trailing zeros due to their association with medication errors.
🔹 Proper notation would be 0.9 mL, not 0.90 mL.
🔹 Therefore, this option violates safe medication documentation standards.
7 mL
🔹 This answer does not require a decimal point and therefore does not respond to the question asking specifically about decimal point usage.
🔹 While “7 mL” is correctly written for whole-number doses, it does not demonstrate the rule involving leading zeros for doses <1 mL.
🔹 It does not test or reinforce the concept of decimal safety in medication writing.
🔹 The question focuses on safe decimal notation, not general measurement.
🔹 Therefore, this option is not applicable to the question asked.
5.0 mL
🔹 This notation improperly uses a trailing zero, which is prohibited because “5.0 mL” can be misread as 50 mL, drastically increasing overdose risk.
🔹 Safe practice dictates writing whole numbers without decimals (e.g., 5 mL, not 5.0 mL).
🔹 Trailing zeros have caused numerous medication-related harm events and should never be used.
🔹 This violates ISMP and Joint Commission safety guidelines.
🔹 Therefore, 5.0 mL is unsafe and incorrect.
Want to practice more questions like this?
This question is from Custom Dosage Calculation. which contains 42 questions.
More Questions from This Exam
If a 5-year-old weighing 44lbs is prescribed amoxicillin at 75 mg/kg/day, divided into three doses, what is the total amount of medication the child should receive in one dose?
Answer Choices:
A patient is prescribed 8 mg of a medication. The medication is available in 20 mg/mL concentration. How many milliliters should the nurse administer?
Answer Choices:
For a child weighing 25 kg, prescribed 100 mg/kg/day of medication divided into three doses, what is the total amount to be administered in one dose (Round to the nearest whole number).
Answer Choices:
Question Details
- Category: RN Nursing Exam(s)
- Subcategory: ATI Exam(s)
- Domain: RN ATI Dosage Calculations
- Answer Choices: 4