[Daytonite]

Originally Posted by flames9

OOPSS!!! Question should have been225 mh PER 1ml (not 2) should double check my typing, sorry!!

I thought with IV PiggyBack, was the small bag, hung above the main bag, which is prepared by the pharmacy, so you as the RN can not add to it????

So this gives you 2.2222 ml and should be rounded to 2.2 ml. Ok I'm cool with that, but referencing my books, Henke and Calculations made easy, they both round it to 2 ml (vice 2.2 ml) I'm not stating your incorrect daytonite, I have always respected your replies. Just weird that one finds these conflicting answers,lol Thanks, I truly appreciate your time.

You are correct. The IV piggyback is the small bag of 50cc or 100cc of NS or D5W that is hung above the main IV infusion. When drugs are added to them it is often done by the pharmacy, but in some facilities during the nighttime or in an emergency the nurse may end up having to mix the piggyback. I've worked in several places where we were not allowed to give anything by IV push. Instead we had to mix the drug in a piggyback and drip it. That could only be done by us nurses on the unit. The pharmacy wasn't going to bother mixing every PRN dose of IV Valium for us when a patient needed it.

The rounding to 2 instead of 2.2 is a mathematics thing and has to do with scientific notation. If the numbers going into the calculations are whole integers then the results are supposed to be expressed as whole integers. A scientist would only express the answer as 2.2 if one of the numbers going into the calculation was, let's say, 225.0 mg. It's just one of those quirky things that people who have taken chemistry or physics know when it comes to doing the math connected with them. For your tests you might want to clarify with your instructors what they will accept as correct answers when it comes to rounding them off.

[flames9]

Thanks again daytonite. On our exams it states to round off to 2 decimal places WHEN NECESSARY,lol And thats where the confusion lays with this problem.I know with a syringe when to round off, but with this IV Piggy Back it leads to confusion, at least for my tiny male brain!!
I guess since I have never completed any "hands on" filling of these bags, it does not help! SO I assume (yes bad to do,lol) one would use a syringe to draw up your 2.2 ml of the drug and add it to the bag! Damn new nurses,lol I hope your feeling well daytonite. Cheers

[Daytonite]

I'm feeling quite well since my chemo has been over for several months. However, I am having surgery again next week. It will slow my typing down a bit is all. Pull a piggyback bag the next time you are in lab or clinicals and look at it and a couple of syringes so you can make some correlations here.

[beth66335]

Originally Posted by flames9

On our exams it states to round off to 2 decimal places WHEN NECESSARY,lol And thats where the confusion lays with this problem.

When you are doing drip factors you will do this...you can't give part of a drop!

[Daytonite]

Originally Posted by beth66335

When you are doing drip factors you will do this...you can't give part of a drop!

I wouldn't.

[flames9]

I'm pretty sure daytonite could do a 0.34 of a drip if she really wanted too!! You hear those Cuck Norris Fables, such as "His tears cures cancer, but her never cries" or" chuck norris can sneeze with his eyes open" Well Daytonite can with her eyes closed an squeeze out a .34 of a drop!! lol She is that good!!! We students owe her a lot!! I bow down!!!

[nrsgnerd]

This formula helps with simple calculations. Say 25 mg of a drug is ordered and on hand is a vial containing 50mg/2ml. How many mL do you give.
Set it up like this
50mg x 25mg = 50 x= 50 x=1 mL
2 mL xml 50 50

Keep mg across from one another on the top, and mL across from one another on the bottom. Then do simple cross multiplying, divide by the number next to x and this will give you your mL.

To calculate gtts/min, you have to know your drop factor which is either 20 gtt/min (standard) or 60gtts/min for a microdrip. Here is the fromula i use

total volume (ml) x drop factor/ 1 min = gtt/min
minutes (*not hrs)

so lets say. 250ml x 20gtt/1min= 5000= 83.3=83 gtts/min
60 min 60

Hope this helps.

[Caseydog]

The math is one of my weak areas, as well...I found the following websites helpful. And you can even start reviewing from basic algebra and work your way forward...there arre also quizzes to test yourself...

www.accd.edu/SAC/NURSING/math/default.html

www.alysion.org/dimensionalanalysis.htm

Hope they are helpful!!

[Daytonite]

Originally Posted by Caseydog

The math is one of my weak areas, as well...I found the following websites helpful. And you can even start reviewing from basic algebra and work your way forward...there arre also quizzes to test yourself...

www.accd.edu/SAC/NURSING/math/default.html

www.alysion.org/dimensionalanalysis.htm

Hope they are helpful!!

These were already listed on post #3 of this thread.

[MursingMale]

oops, I made a mistake