Dosage Calculation ?

the key to all drip calcs is

Calculate twice administer correctly first time

a take from an old carpenters rule

Hi,

I am having solving the following 2 dosage calculation questions, can someone please help?

1. 1000cc solution of D5NS with 20,000 units of Heparin is infusing at 20ml per hour. The IV set delivers 60 gtts per cc. How many units of Heparin is the patient receiving each hour

2. Your patient has an order to receive 800 units of Heparin per hour by continuous intravenous infusion. If the pharmacy mixes the IV bag to contain a total of 5,000 units of Heparin in 500 ml of D5W, how many cc's per minute should the patient receive?

Thanks

1. 20000 units..... 20 ml............................ 20000 u/1000 ml x 20ml/1hr = 400 units/hr

......1000 ml x ........1 hr = 400 units/hr

the 60 gtt per cc is extraneous info with no effect on calc.

Look at the labeling and you see that ml and ml cancel each other and the result will be in units/hr. To multiply this without a calculator:

20 units ..................................20 ml

..1 ml .....(divided both by 1000) 1 hr = 400 units/hr

2. 800 units .........500 ml ..........40 units........ 4 units

.....60 min.... x ...5000 units .= ..30 min... = ....3 min = 1 1/3 u/min

Spacing may not stay correct on here either--so you can see elements of calc