Please help with IV srip rates!

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please try and give me a simple way of doing these micro and macro drip rates.

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Specializes in tele, stepdown/PCU, med/surg.

Rhona, this is how I do it:

For gravity IVs (without a pump) I want to end up with CCs/min. So if I have a bag of 100 CCs and it's supposed to infuse in 30 min, I go:

100 divided by 30. This will tell me how many CCs will infuse in 1 min right? And that's what I wanted, to get to CCs/min.

So 3.33 CCs will infuse in one minute. Once we get CCs per min, we want to multiply this by the drip factor:

Macro drip = 10, 15, 20

Micro drip = 60.

Let's say X hospital uses drip factor tubing of 15. So we multiply 3.33 or simply 3 times 15. It equals aproximately 50. This means that you want 50 drops to infuse per minute. Does that make sense? Then if you were to count drops in the drip chamber to make sure it's infusing at the right rate, you can divide 50 by 15 which will give you the drops every 15 seconds. You can count for 15 seconds and adjust the clamp to get the desired rate.

Bottom Line:

CCs/min X drip factor.

Also remember that pumps go by mLs per hour.

Zach

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Specializes in CCU/ER.

Rhona--

As Zach said, you must first find how much fluid all together you are giving in one hour.

1000ml in 8 hours?

1000 divided by 8 = 125ml/hr

Then for your drops per minute (gtts/min), your formula can look like this:

ml/hr x gtt factor

60 minutes

So for instance, the problem says,

The dr orders 1000ml to run over 8 hours. Your drop set is a 10. How many drops per minute will the patient receive?

a. 1000/8= 125 ml/hr

b. 125 x 10

.... 60

(Just so you know, the dot dot dots are just for the purpose of lining up the problem..)

c. you can now cancel top to bottom. 10 goes into 10, 1 time. and 10 goes into 60, 6 times.

125 x 1

... 6

d. now you have only to simplify.

125

6 = 20.833333

e. now reduce (cause you can't give 0.83 drops)

21 gtts/min

Does that make sense??

I hope so!!

Send me a message and I'll be happy to help more!

Misty

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Specializes in tele, stepdown/PCU, med/surg.

Misty, your explanation was a lot clearer than mine LOL. Is it because I'm male? :)

Z

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Specializes in CCU/ER.

Z-

It's not because you're a guy--it's because I'm a math teacher!!

YOu did just fine! I just know that I need a step by step description of what to do!

NOw if you are having any feelings of incompitency due to being a male, go see your Mental Health instructor!!! I'm too blunt for all that mumbo jumbo!! :chuckle

Misty

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Specializes in Emergency, Trauma.

Not sure from your question if you're trying to get gtts/min from cc/hr, but if you are, this is by far the easiest way to go. To get gtts/min from cc/hr we were taught to use the "magic number" system. You take the drop factor of your tubing and divide it into 60. Using that number, you than divide it into your cc/hr.

For example, say you're using 15 gtt tubing and want to run it at 120 cc/hr.

60 divided by 15 = 4 (magic number)

then, 120(cc/hr) divided by 4 is 30 gtts/min.

Another one, 10 gtt tubing, rate of 120 cc/hr.

60 divided by 10 = 6 (magic number)

120 (cc/hr) divide by 6 = 20 gtts/min.

With micro gtt tubing (60 gtts), your cc/hr is ALWAYS the same as your gtts/min. But, you could work it out the same way to be sure.

200 cc/hr with 60 gtt tubing.

60 divided by 60 (gtt tubing) = 1.

200 (cc/hr) divided by 1 = 200 cc/hr.

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Specializes in Obstetrics, M/S, Psych.

neneRN

Wow. That simplicity of that formula is pure genius...I love it...never saw that before! Why the hell don't they teach that in every nursing school I wonder??

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Guys:

I am a ways a way from needing this stuff, but that was great!

Thanks.

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Specializes in Perinatal/neonatal.

THAT is cool! Thanks for the info!;)

~Angie

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