Recently published data shows that the prevalence of asthma in patients over 18-years-old is 1 in 20 and the prevalence of COPD in patients over 18-years-old is 1 in 32. Your surgery has 8,000 registered patients over the age of 18 years.   How many more patients aged over 18 would you expect to have asthma compared to the number who have COPD?

You are a foundation trainee who is running an event on salt content of OTC medicines. Co-codamol 8mg/500mg soluble tablets contain 19.1mmol of Na+ per tablet. The maximum recommended daily allowance (RDA) of salt for an adult is 6g (2.4g of sodium) per day. The atomic mass of sodium is 23. If an adult patient took two co-codamol soluble tablets, what percentage of their maximum recommended daily salt allowance would they have consumed? Round your answer to the nearest whole number.

A 36-year-old patient is currently prescribed lithium citrate (Priadel) 520mg/5ml liquid at a dose of 15mL AT NIGHT. To improve compliance, the decision is made to switch him to lithium carbonate (Priadel) 200mg MR tablets.   How many Priadel 200mg MR tablets should the patient be prescribed for each dose?   Extract from Online BNF for lithium

A 7-year-old patient weighing 24.4kg is prescribed treatment with oral sodium valproate 200mg/5mL solution for epilepsy. The prescriber would like to initiate the lowest starting dose to be taken twice a day. Each dose is rounded to the nearest whole number to aid administration. Extract from Online BNF for sodium valproate How many millilitres of sodium valproate should be prescribed for 28 days of treatment?

A specialist nurse prescriber sees a patient with end stage COPD and prescribes Heliox (helium 79% and oxygen 21%) gas to reduce airflow resistance. Each Heliox cylinder contains 3500L and is set to a flow rate of 15L/minute. The patient is expected to use the Heliox via a face mask when needed after exertion for up to ten minutes each day.   How many full days will each Heliox cylinder last if the patient uses the maximum dose?

A 21-year-old female patient is currently prescribed citalopram 20mg tablets at a dose of 20mg once daily in the morning. She is not tolerating citalopram and a decision is made to switch her on to mirtazapine. The cross-tapering regimen is provided below:   Drug Current dose Week 1 and 2 Week 3 and 4 Week 5 and 6 Citalopram 20mg OM 10mg OM 5mg OM   Mirtazapine     15mg ON 15mg ON You prescribe the patient citalopram 10mg tablets and inform them to halve the tablets when a 5mg dose is required.   How many citalopram 10mg tablets should be prescribed to complete the cross-tapering regimen?

A patient is supplied with 100mL of a 25%w/v mouthwash which they will dilute 1 in 5 with water prior to use, as described on the label: Pour 2mL of mouthwash into the cap provided and then add water to the 10mL line. Rinse your mouth for one-minute up to twice a day.   What is the %w/v strength of the mouthwash after the patient has diluted the original solution with water?  

Your pharmacy participates in a ‘NHS Health Check’ scheme run by your local authority, in which you measure patients’ height, weight, blood pressure and, depending on results, offer lifestyle advice or refer them to their GP for further testing. A 59-year-old male patient weighs 92kg and is 160cm in height. His blood pressure is 132/82mmHg. How much weight in kilograms does he need to lose to reach a ‘healthy’ BMI of 25kg/m2?

A patient at the end of life is prescribed 30mg of morphine and 0.5mg of haloperidol to be given subcutaneously over 24 hours at home using a McKinley syringe driver. The final syringe is made up to 20mL with sodium chloride 0.9%.   What is the infusion rate in mL/hour that the syringe driver should be set at? Give your answer to ONE (1) decimal place.

A nurse must prepare a 120mg/mL solution of benzylpenicillin using one 1.2g benzylpenicillin ampoule and Water for Injections. The displacement volume for benzylpenicillin is 0.4mL/600mg.   How many millilitres of Water for Injections, must be added to the ampoule to produce the required concentration?  Give your answer to ONE (1) decimal place.