IV drip formula

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Dec 19, 2012

This is a great site!!!!!!!!

DosageHelp.com - Helping Nursing Students Learn Dosage Calculations

SweetPEI · Dec 19, 2012

Dimensional analysis works great for me

akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P · Dec 19, 2012

Dimensional analysis works great for me

This is a great method... just make sure that you set the problem up correctly and it works, every time. I personally could never quite wrap my head around it, but I know how to do it. Everything I've had to do to date has been either a simple math problem or a ratio problem. There are lots of sites out there for med math. The one above "DosageHelp" is really a good site for that stuff.

Roshni69 · Dec 19, 2012

A very simple formula that i use

Fluid divided by time multiplied by drop factor :) it will be as

Fluid'/. Time * drop factor

Annachu512, BSN, RN · Dec 23, 2012

A very simple formula that i use
Fluid divided by time multiplied by drop factor :) it will be as
Fluid'/. Time * drop factor

Yes, this works well :) Don't complicate it. For example

100ml/ over 60 minutes x drop rate (usually 13-15)

Michaela, RN · Dec 24, 2012

I use:

ml x gtts / time.

Works great, and really simple!

BajanCherry · Jan 1, 2013

Ok I used the ml x gtt / time... Works great to get your gtt/min... now my question is how do I solve the units/hr, mLs/hr, and how many hours with the IV pump run for.... I've tried different equations and I am LOST!

I am trying on my own until class starts and I go to tutoring....

Michaela, RN · Jan 2, 2013

I still use the mlxgtt/time... then to find units/hr just multiply gtt/min x 60min. To find mls/hr just do ml/60min

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Jan 2, 2013

I always tell students that they can use whatever formula they like best (I'm not sharing mine here), but if you have a rough idea of what it ought to be, you can recognize a totally off-the-wall wrong answer.

To address this question: Your units or milligrams or widgets per hour you solve by first knowing how many units, milligrams, or widgets there are in a given volume. Your problem will always give you the information you need to figure that out.

For example, if you have a solution that is 500,000 widgets per liter, then you can figure out how many widgets per cc here are, right? 500,000 in a liter / 1000cc in a liter.... so 500,000/1000 will tell you that. So you have 500 widgets in a cc. If your problem asks you to give 25,000 widgets per hour, how many cc is that? That would be ... fifty cc.

BajanCherry · Jan 5, 2013

I get it!!!! I get it!!!! I was sooooo nervous about this math!

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Jan 5, 2013

Good for you!!!!!! Congratualtions!