I have 2 IV Pitocin Problems I need help with...

[Murgy]

First Calculation Problem: A patient is to receive 12 milliunits per minute of Pitocin. The directions for making up the fluid is to add 15 units of Pitocin to 1 liter of 5 % dextrose solution. Determine the rate of the IV in gtts/min and cc/hr using a drop factor of 40 gtts/ml.

Second calculation problem: A patient is to receive 10 milliunits per minute of Pitocin. The directions for making up the fluid is to add 8 units of Pitocin to 1 liter of 5% dextrose solution. Using a drop factor of 60gtts/ml, determine how long (in hours) would the 1 liter IV fluid last in continuous infusion?

[Curious1alwys, BSN, RN]

ha! I got the same answers as Heart...

I don't think the 40 gtt/min on the first one is right either..I too got 32 and it seems weird that the drop factor given is 40 gtt/ml (was that wrong?) AND the answer is 40. Hmmm. Either the wording of the question is wrong, or the answer sheet is wrong..

These q's are so dumb. Most of your calculations in school are much easier and much more practical. And like the others said, you don't even use some of this in real life. But I guess that is nursing school too, lol

[Hands and Heart]

Are your units correct? Did you mean to say 48 mL/hr for the second part of question 1?

If I were to work the problem using the answer sheet's result of 40 gtt/min for part 1 of question 1, my result for part 2 of question 1 would be 60 mL/hr. There may have been an error in the answer key seeing that the drop factor was 40gtt/mL

I encountered several errors in the answer key of the math book I was using. That can be very frustrating when you know you have all your units in the right place. Good luck.