Advanced Dosing and Patient Safety

This capstone unit integrates advanced dosage adjustment principles for special populations and critical care settings, and addresses nutritional considerations that affect medication therapy. Students synthesize prior learning to master ten essential dosing calculations and implement proven strategies to prevent common dosing errors in clinical practice.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze patient-specific factors (including age, weight, renal/hepatic function, pregnancy, comorbidities, and polypharmacy) to determine and justify appropriate dosage adjustments for special situations
• Apply critical care dosing principles to calculate infusion rates, titration regimens, loading and maintenance doses, and mg/kg-based drug orders for acute and intensive care scenarios
• Demonstrate calculation and documentation of enteral and parenteral nutrition requirements (calories, protein, fluid/electrolyte needs) and assess medication–nutrition interactions when planning safe administration
• Evaluate ten common dosing calculation types and implement ten evidence-based error-prevention strategies to identify, prevent, and correct dosing mistakes in clinical practice