Important question on IV Fluids

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I have a questions I can't figure out and would love some insight. The question is:

Adam is on the IV fluids of 2/3 and 1/3 running at 75mL/hour. Calculate fully everything he is receiving with this order. Any feedback would be great, thanks!

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

What fluid are you running? 2/3 and 1/3 does not provide information.

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It's 3.3% dextrose and 0.3% normal saline solution.

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

Then the question makes zero sense and cannot be answered. I would never assume anything unless I had been told to, such as "for every intervention listed, assume you have an order" when answering questions.

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As far as I can tell, he's getting 75cc/hour of, well, something. But I agree, that's pure speculation.

1) what are your thoughts?

2) what does your homework question really say?

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Homework is for you to do so that you can learn how to do these things for real.

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Well thanks for your help anyways, I appreciate your response. I'm going to keep looking online for more information that might help me answer this question.

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Hi Flatline, I'm by no means looking for an easy answer. I'm looking for guidance to help me understand how to answer the question. Any feedback would be sincerely appreciated.

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Specializes in ER.

It's a poorly written homework question.

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I agree, that's why I'm having trouble answering the question. My professor hasn't introduced us to the solution of 2/3 dextrose and 1/3 NS. We've only practiced with D5W. Therefore, I'm having trouble answering the question because I don't have any background on the solution.

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Maybe ... 50cc/hr of one solution and 25cc/hour of another? I dunno. We really need to see the exact wording of the question to see if it makes any sense.

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I agree, that's why I'm having trouble answering the question. My professor hasn't introduced us to the solution of 2/3 dextrose and 1/3 NS. We've only practiced with D5W. Therefore, I'm having trouble answering the question because I don't have any background on the solution.

Aha.

This is not a solution problem per se, it's a chemistry problem. You need to know:

How much NaCl is in a liter of NS

How much dextrose is in a liter of "2/3 dextrose," whatever that is (D66? I never heard of this myself-- I've seen D5 and D10, and D25 and D50, but ... 2/3??

Then figure out how much of each is given in 75 cc

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