Help Needed With Math/heparin Question

motyandproudofit · Jul 28, 2008

Your client has a heparin drip ordered to be infused at 1,000 units/hour. The drip is concentrated as 40,000 units of heparin in 1L of D5W. This IV solution will be infused via an infusion device. ( Therapeutic adult range is 20,000- 40,000 units per day.

Is the odered dose safe? for an adult?

The infusion pump will be set at?

1.) 1,000 units/hour for 24 hours would be 24,000 units so indeed that would fall within the safe range.

2.) gtts/min = 60 gtts x 1000 ml x 1 L x 1,000 u x 1 hr

1 ml 1 L 40,000 u 1 hr 60 min

60gtts/1ml = I assumed to use a microdrip.

I get 25 gtts/min.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Jul 28, 2008

your client has a heparin drip ordered to be infused at 1,000 units/hour. the drip is concentrated as 40,000 units of heparin in 1l of d5w. this iv solution will be infused via an infusion device. therapeutic adult range is 20,000- 40,000 units per day.

is the ordered dose safe for an adult?

to determine if your client is getting a safe dose, you must calculate how many units of heparin the client is getting per day and see if this number of units falls within the therapeutic adult range of 20,000 to 40,000 units of heparin a day. you must know that there are 24 hours in a day. you have been given the information that the patient is receiving 1,000 units of heparin per hour. therefore, in a day, or 24 hours, this client will receive

1,000 units of heparin x 24 hours = 24,000 units of heparin

is that within the therapeutic range of 20,000 to 40,000 units of heparin a day? yes, it is. so, the answer to the first part of the question,

is the ordered dose safe for an adult?

, is

yes

.

the infusion pump will be set at?

to get the correct answer, you must know that infusion pumps are always programmed in

ml/hour

. you will have to use the information you were given in the problem and apply a conversion factor in order to end up with an answer that is a fraction giving you numbers in the numerator and denominator with those exact labels (ml/hour) on them.

1 liter/40,000 units

(dose on hand)

x 1,000 units/1 hour

(dose desired)

x 1000 ml/1 liter

(conversion factor) =

25 ml/hour

(infusion rate - amount to give)