Question

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?

Answer 1

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.