Nursing Students Student Assist
Published Aug 3, 2014
Nursing2102
276 Posts
Rounding Rules:
parenteral
Intravenous infusion by gravity (gtts/min): round to a whole number
Intravenous infusion by pump (mL/hr): round to the nearest tenth
Injectable medications:
ENTERAL
Oral/NGT/PEG/J Tube:
WEIGHT:
POUNDS TO KILOGRAMS CONVERSIONS: round to the nearest tenth
___________________________________________
Question:
Patient weight: 205lbs
Calculate the rate on the pump.
Answer: 35.3 mL/hr (according to the answer key it says the answer is 35, but based on the rounding rules, wouldn't the answer be rounded to the tenth?)
smf0903
845 Posts
I get 34.95mL/hr which would round to 35mL/hr.
Can you show your math?
loveofrn, BSN, RN
347 Posts
I got 34.94 which should be rounded to 35
pmabraham, BSN, RN
1 Article; 2,566 Posts
Good day:
I got the same results.
Thank you.
It says round to the nearest tenth, so why is everyone rounding to the whole number? That is what is throwing me off.
loriangel14, RN
6,931 Posts
If you are setting a pump I don't think you can set it to partial mls.
MrChicagoRN, RN
2,598 Posts
Plus, the difference between 34.9 and 35 ml/hr is only 0.00287% , and totals 2.4 ml over the entire 24 hours.
The difference is insignificant. Remain calm and round off to the nearest whole number.
NICUmiiki, DNP, NP
1,775 Posts
I've never seen a pump that will let you set it more precise than a whole number. That's why you would round to a whole number.
You aren't just arbitrarily rounding numbers. It is all based on the instrument you'll use to administer the drug.
The gtts/min rounds to a whole number because you (the nurse) cannot count 39.6 or 27.4 drops. For oral and injectable drugs, you round depending on the size syringe you'll use. 1 mL syringes are measured to the hundredth of a mL, and the bigger syringes get less precise as you go up.
FlyingScot, RN
2,016 Posts
Actually, there are many pumps that allow you to do this and with infants and children it's important to have this ability.
You are so right. I didn't even think about syringe pumps and the like. Thanks!
when the answer is 34.95, rounding to the nearest the to gives you 35.
34.95---> you are working with the .95 part of the answer. Since the tenths place happens to be a 9, it affects the whole number.
If it were 34.75, it would become 34.8
if it were 34.85, it would become 34.9
Since it's 34.95, it becomes 35.0 (35 since trailing zeros are not allowed). Hopefully that makes sense? :)
Thanks!