Drip rate vs Flow rate?

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I am a bit confused...I am fixing to start my 2nd yr of RN school, so I've been trying to get a little ahead on my dosage calc (IV calculations) & I thought I had it pretty well figured out, but then today I was talking with one of my classmates & she says that drip rate & flow rate are not the same thing...is this right?:uhoh3:

Specializes in healthcare12 years.

gtts ate on tubing bag it will tell you how many drips per ml usually 10 to 15 infusion pumps mostly ml/hr

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Specializes in Psych, Ortho, Stroke, and TBI.
drip rate look at what the tubing says most are like 10 to 15 gtts per ml dont really use drip rate with a infusion pump pretty much ml/hr

at my job computerized infusion pumps so lok as you time going in how much ml in bag the pump figures out rate, but I got a new job a few weeks pumps nothing liket hat but really easy for me I killed myself doing math in LPN and RN school till I got iy

Drip rate = gtt/min (Drops per minute)

Drop Factor = gtt/mL (tubing)

Just clarifying...cause it sounded as if you were saying that the drip rate is listed on the tube packaging.

:)

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Specializes in healthcare12 years.

what I am saying in your coversion the tubing tells you the gtts per ml

say you want to give a antibiotic in 1 hour/ 60 min and it is 50 ml the drips on tubing is 15gtt per ml rate would be put each conversion over eaxh other till you can cross out wahat you want hope this helps hard to explain

50ml 15gtts

____x ______ = 12.5 rounded 13 gtts 1 min

60 min 1 ml

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