How do you change the I.V. drip rate?

Nurses General Nursing

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Hi everyone I just have a quick question. How do you adjust the drip and flow rate for a gravity feed I.V. ( no pump)? Thank you.

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Specializes in Gerontology.

You use the clamp on the IV tubing. Clamp open more = faster drip. Clamp closed more = slower drip. You have to play around a bit before you get the drip rate you want. Even then, you may have to adjust it frequently as the position of the pt's hand/arm can affect the rate.

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Trauma team:

There is a formula to calculate drops per minute. Here it is.....

Total Volume x drop factor divided by Total Time in MINUTES!

Hope this helps! ~ Kali

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thank you your responses helped alot.

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Specializes in OR 35 years; crosstrained ER/ICU/PACU.

Don't forget to check which drip factor you have.....15 or 60!!! I've been out of nursing school for 32 years, so forgive me for asking, but don't they teach this calculation anymore? Have we come to just relying on pumps? :o

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Specializes in ICU, PACU, Cath Lab.
Don't forget to check which drip factor you have.....15 or 60!!! I've been out of nursing school for 32 years, so forgive me for asking, but don't they teach this calculation anymore? Have we come to just relying on pumps? :o

They teach it still....well at least I learned it..and I had to do it on the test I took before I was hired. On the other hand it is hospital policy that all infusions are on pumps. I always calcutate my rate before I hang it...but that really has nothing to do with "drip" factor.

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Specializes in Critical Care.
I've been out of nursing school for 32 years, so forgive me for asking, but don't they teach this calculation anymore? Have we come to just relying on pumps? :o

They most definitely teach it in schools still. A good chunk of our every-semester dosage calculations test is manual drip rates, and we had to demonstrate competency in regulating a manual drip rate (with both micro and macrodrip) in lab before we could even touch IVs in clinicals.

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Specializes in CVICU, Burns, Trauma, BMT, Infection control.
They teach it still....well at least I learned it..and I had to do it on the test I took before I was hired. On the other hand it is hospital policy that all infusions are on pumps. I always calcutate my rate before I hang it...but that really has nothing to do with "drip" factor.

Well the drip factor has to do with whether there are 10gtts/cc,15gtt/cc or minidrip 60gtt/cc. I don't know if there are that many variations anymore b/c I've been using pumps for years now.

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Specializes in Critical Care.
Well the drip factor has to do with whether there are 10gtts/cc,15gtt/cc or minidrip 60gtt/cc. I don't know if there are that many variations anymore b/c I've been using pumps for years now.

The hospital I work at and the two I do clinicals at carry only the 60 gtt/mL pump tubing and a 10gtt/mL macrodrip / blood tubing.

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:confused: i was wondering the same thing that spiker did, and the answer is probably yes, they do rely on pumps, so calculating the gtt rate is a lost art...makes me feel old...or should i say older? sheila c

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Specializes in CVICU, Burns, Trauma, BMT, Infection control.
:confused: i was wondering the same thing that spiker did, and the answer is probably yes, they do rely on pumps, so calculating the gtt rate is a lost art...makes me feel old...or should i say older? sheila c

me too.....:crying2:

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Sheila:

Don't feel "old" or "older"!! The bottom line is times are changing. There is research that supports using plum pumps, as opposed to manually calculating things. There is less chance for mistakes. There are also mandates at certain hospitals for using them, especially in cases of infusing high-risk drips such as heparin, insulin, dopamine, and don't forget.....blood too! Some pumps are equipped with a library that contains each drug and its concentration. You plug in the #'s and the pump calculates the rate. Should you still check to make sure? Well, yes. But do we? Well, no. Remember, the pump itself doesn't make mistakes. People who program the pump make mistakes!!!!! I rely heavily on them.

All of us learned how to calculate these things in nursing school back in the day. However, relying on modern technology has made us forget the "old" way of doing it. I still believe in using the pumps whenever possible. If that is not possible, then BE SURE to have someone else double check your math!! ~ Kali

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