A nurse is preparing to administer dextrose 5% in lactated Ringer’s 2 L IV to infuse over 12 hr. The drop factor on the manual IV tubing is 20 gtt/mL. The nurse should set the IV flow rate to deliver how many gtt/min? (Round the answer to the nearest whole number.
Use a leading zero if it applies.
Do not use a trailing zero.). gtt/min.
To calculate the IV flow rate in drops per minute (gtt/min), use the following formula:Flow rate (gtt/min)=(Total volume (mL)Total time (min))×Drop factor (gtt/mL)\text{Flow rate (gtt/min)} = \left(\frac{\text{Total volume (mL)}}{\text{Total time (min)}}\right) \times \text{Drop factor (gtt/mL)}Flow rate (gtt/min)=(Total time (min)Total volume (mL))×Drop factor (gtt/mL)
Step 1: Determine the total volume in mL
- The total volume to be infused is 2 L, which is equivalent to 2000 mL.
Step 2: Convert the total time to minutes
- The total time is 12 hours, which is equivalent to 720 minutes (12 hours × 60 minutes/hour).
Step 3: Plug in the values and calculate the flow rate
Flow rate (gtt/min)=(2000 mL720 min)×20 gtt/mL\text{Flow rate (gtt/min)} = \left(\frac{2000 \, \text{mL}}{720 \, \text{min}}\right) \times 20 \, \text{gtt/mL}Flow rate (gtt/min)=(720min2000mL)×20gtt/mL Flow rate (gtt/min)=(2.78 mL/min)×20 gtt/mL\text{Flow rate (gtt/min)} = \left(2.78 \, \text{mL/min}\right) \times 20 \, \text{gtt/mL}Flow rate (gtt/min)=(2.78mL/min)×20gtt/mL Flow rate (gtt/min)=55.56 gtt/min\text{Flow rate (gtt/min)} = 55.56 \, \text{gtt/min}Flow rate (gtt/min)=55.56gtt/min
Step 4: Round to the nearest whole number
The flow rate is approximately 56 gtt/min.
Final Answer:
The nurse should set the IV flow rate to 56 gtt/min.