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:

answer: you can't. the pump is doing all the work of measuring and calculating the infusion rate and literally pushing the iv fluid into the patient at a low pressure. looking at the drip chamber is usually not going to give you any clue as to how fast the iv is infusing because the pump has control over the infusion. the reason the iv tubing has a drip chamber on it at all is for the event that the iv tubing might have to be taken out of the pump and the iv has to be controlled by manual means with the roller clamp. however, when an iv is on a pump, the drip chamber is actually unnecessary.

question? let's see who's up on their physics.: what is the function of the drip chamber? this was an actual question we had to answer on a test when i was in nursing school back in the 70's.

is it so that you can tell if your iv is running (patent) or not?

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Daytonite told me the answer to this, so I will post it. The drip chamber keeps the "air" out of entering the tubing. (hope that is right)..;) ;)

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Specializes in OB.

dont get comfortable with the thought" everything is on a pump". In my second semester on Ortho/Nero, 3 times I started IV infusion of Ancef that was gravity drip, not pump and had to calc the drip rate

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Specializes in Utilization Management.
dont get comfortable with the thought" everything is on a pump". In my second semester on Ortho/Nero, 3 times I started IV infusion of Ancef that was gravity drip, not pump and had to calc the drip rate

Actually, there's a cheat sheet for that, depending on the brand of IV lines you use. I copied the Baxter cheat sheet because we don't use a pump on our blood transfusions.

But Shhhh! don't tell your instructors I told you! :devil:

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Specializes in OB.
Actually, there's a cheat sheet for that, depending on the brand of IV lines you use. I copied the Baxter cheat sheet because we don't use a pump on our blood transfusions.

But Shhhh! don't tell your instructors I told you! :devil:

I had her breathing down my neck expecting me to do it long hand on a scratch piece of paper in front of her !!!!!!

and yes, when I re-infused blood from an OrthoPat, I also had drip time, no pump, I had forgotten about that till you mentioned it !

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Thanks sooo much to everyone for answering...I think I have it now, you use drip rate if your infusing by gravity, & flow rate when infusing by a pump...is this right?

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No, your not hijacking...just glad to know I'm not the only one confused with some of this stuff...:bugeyes: Come to find out, my classmate doesn't have a clue either!:lol_hitti

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Specializes in Utilization Management.
Thanks sooo much to everyone for answering...I think I have it now, you use drip rate if your infusing by gravity, & flow rate when infusing by a pump...is this right?

Yes, that's correct!

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Specializes in Onc/Hem, School/Community.

Thanks for clarifying that. I was confused. We were instructed on the drugs; however, we were on our own when it came to the math. I was able to do the math, but did not understand the reasoning behind it.

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Specializes in none, still looking.

ok

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.
Thanks sooo much to everyone for answering...I think I have it now, you use drip rate if your infusing by gravity, & flow rate when infusing by a pump...is this right?
Ta-Da! :w00t: As my old piano teacher would say, "Give that nursing student a Star!" Yes, you got it! :loveya:
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Specializes in healthcare12 years.

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

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