In: Nursing
a) The nurse is preparing to administer a 1L 0.9% NaCl IV fluid bag at 150mL/hr. The IV tubing contains a Micro Drip set with a drop factor of 60gtts/mL. In order to administer the IV fluid at the correct rate, how drops per minute must the nurse observe in the chamber?
b) A heparin drip is ordered for a patient with a DVT in the RLE. The bag reads heparin 25,000 units in 500 mL. The initial order instructs the nurse to start the infusion at 500 units/hr. How many mL per hour will the IV pump be set to at the beginning of this infusion?
Question No: a
To calculate drops per minute, we use the formula
Drops per minute = Amount of solution (ml) x Drop factor / time in minutes
Amount of solution to be administered per hour = 150 ml
Drop factor = 60 gtts/ml
Time in minutes = 60
Drops per minute = 150 x 60 / 60 = 150
The nurse must observe for 150 drops/ minute in the chamber in order to administer 1L 0.9% NaCl IV fluid at 150mL/hr.
Note : For a microdrip set , the drops per minute will remain the same as the mL per hour.
Question No: b
To find out the amount of fluid that contains 500 units of heparin, we use the following steps
Available amount of heparin = 25,000 units in 500 mL i.e.25000 units = 500 ml
Dose to be administered = 500 units/hr i.e. 500 units = X ml where X means amount of heparin to be administered in ml
By cross multiplication ,we will get
25000 x X = 500 x 500
i.e. X = 500 x 500 / 25000 = 10
Hence it is clear that the nurse should set the IV pump at 10 ml per hour in order to deliver 500 units heparin per hour.