A nurse is preparing to administer 0.9% sodium chloride 1 L IV to infuse over 8 hr. The drop factor of the manual IV tubing set is 15 gtts/mL. Th nurse should set the manual IV infusion to deliver how many gtt/min? (Round the answer to the nearest whole number. Use a leading zero if applies. Do not use a trailing zero.)
To calculate the flow rate in gtt/min, you can use the following formula:Flow rate (gtt/min)=(Volume to be infused (mL)×Drop factor (gtt/mL)Time (minutes))\text{Flow rate (gtt/min)} = \left(\frac{\text{Volume to be infused (mL)} \times \text{Drop factor (gtt/mL)}}{\text{Time (minutes)}}\right)Flow rate (gtt/min)=(Time (minutes)Volume to be infused (mL)×Drop factor (gtt/mL))
- Volume to be infused: 1 L = 1000 mL
- Time: 8 hours = 8 × 60 minutes = 480 minutes
- Drop factor: 15 gtt/mL
Now, plug in the values:Flow rate (gtt/min)=(1000 mL×15 gtt/mL480 minutes)\text{Flow rate (gtt/min)} = \left(\frac{1000 \text{ mL} \times 15 \text{ gtt/mL}}{480 \text{ minutes}}\right)Flow rate (gtt/min)=(480 minutes1000 mL×15 gtt/mL) Flow rate (gtt/min)=(15000480)≈31.25 gtt/min\text{Flow rate (gtt/min)} = \left(\frac{15000}{480}\right) \approx 31.25 \text{ gtt/min}Flow rate (gtt/min)=(48015000)≈31.25 gtt/min
Rounding to the nearest whole number:Flow rate≈31 gtt/min\text{Flow rate} \approx 31 \text{ gtt/min}Flow rate≈31 gtt/min
Answer: 31 gtt/min
Explanation: The nurse should set the manual IV infusion to deliver 31 gtt/min to infuse 1 L of 0.9% sodium chloride over 8 hours using tubing with a drop factor of 15 gtt/mL.