What’s Hanging?

Math for nursing students. Suppose you are working on the orthopedic floor and you are given a physicians order to infuse the patient in room 433, bed A, with 1000 mL of dextrose in water. What questions might that bring to mind? Math for nursing students.

(mL ÷ hr) x drip set gtt/mL 60 min Calculating IV Flow Rates   Intravenous (IV) fluids are widely used to replenish body fluids or nutrients lost, to give medication, or to keep a vein open for future use. Intravenous medications enter directly into the bloodstream and take immediate effect. This is the quickest, most efficient way to administer medication, but great care must be given to accuracy   When an IV is used to replace fluids or give medication, the physician will order a flow rate. This is an indication of how fast the fluid should be entering the vein – it is essential to maintaining a certain prescribed amount over a period of time. The flow rate is given in milliliters per hour. It is your duty to determine the drip rate or drip speed in drops (gtt) per minute. We will use the following formula to calculate IV flow rates: (mL ÷ hr) x drip set gtt/mL 60 min

Remember: 30 minutes = .5 hours 45 minutes = .75 hours Vocabulary intravenous – within a vein – why administer in this way? intravenous (IV) fluids – sometimes called a “drip” …may be used to correct electrolyte imbalances, to deliver medications, for blood transfusion or as fluid replacement to correct, for example, dehydration. (blood transfusions a lethal injections) infusion - the therapeutic introduction of fluid into a vein. drip set - a device used for delivering IV fluids. It includes plastic tubing and a combination drip-chamber and filter flow rate – the volume of solution to be infused in hours ordered. drip speed – the number of drops infused per minute based on the drip set used. gtt – abbreviation for drop hours and minutes conversion – 60 minutes per hour Remember: 30 minutes = .5 hours 45 minutes = .75 hours

The drip rate is 20 drops per minute. Calculate the drip rate of 300 ml of medication to be infused over 3 hours using a 12 gtt/min drip set. (300 ÷ 3) x 12 100 x 12 = 20 drops/minute = 60 60 The drip rate is 20 drops per minute.

Calculate the drip rate of 100 ml of medication to be infused over 60 minutes using a 10 gtt/min drip set. (mL ÷ hours) x drip set gtt/min 60 (100 ÷ 1) x 10 = 16.7 drops/min 60

Assignment: 8 problems – 3 points each Show your work (2pts per problem) Include units in calculations Include units in your final answer (1pt per problem)