The Health Care Provider orders gentamicin (Garamycin) for a 2-day old newborn whose weight is 1,653 grams and 38 centimeters long. The drug reference states neonatal dosage of gentamicin for infants less than 1 week of age is 2.5 mg/kg every 12-24 hours. The nurse would expect to administer which following safe, daily dosages for this medication? Round your answer to 2 decimal places.

The neonate's weight must be converted from grams to kilograms to calculate the safe dosage. Step 1 is: Calculate the neonate's weight in kilograms. 1,653 grams ÷ 1,000 grams/kg = 1.653 kg. Step 2 is: Calculate the minimum safe daily dosage based on the drug reference range (2.5 mg/kg every 24 hours, or one dose per day). 2.5 mg/kg × 1.653 kg = 4.1325 mg. Step 3 is: Calculate the maximum safe daily dosage based on the drug reference range (2.5 mg/kg every 12 hours, or two doses per day). 2.5 mg/kg × 1.653 kg × 2 doses/day = 8.265 mg. Step 4 is: State the safe daily dosage range and round to two decimal places. The safe daily dosage range is 4.13 mg to 8.27 mg.