IV drip questions?

Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN · Aug 26, 2017

Well you can figure out how many mg are in 1 mL from your givens. Hopefully that helps without spoon-feeding the answer. If you're still stuck, how are you setting up the problem? That would help us to see where you're going wrong

hawrsh20 · Aug 26, 2017

I'm just confused in general how to set up the problem. We have the on hand that is 300mg/250 ml. Then the ordered is 21 ml/hour. The question wants mg per hour. I just dont get how to set up the problem because if I try doing it with dimensional analysis, I cant get them to match up.

So far I'm at 300 mg over 250 ml (x) xhour over 21 ml. But is the hour allowed to be up there?

michellelreck · Aug 26, 2017

Should be 300 mg/250 mL x 21 mL/x hours so the mL will cancel out and that'll leave you with mg/hr

hawrsh20 · Aug 26, 2017

Hm so its as simple as that?! Makes more sense now. Thank you so much!

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Aug 27, 2017

I'm just confused in general how to set up the problem. We have the on hand that is 300mg/250 ml. Then the ordered is 21 ml/hour. The question wants mg per hour. I just dont get how to set up the problem because if I try doing it with dimensional analysis, I cant get them to match up.
So far I'm at 300 mg over 250 ml (x) xhour over 21 ml. But is the hour allowed to be up there?

300 mg/250 mL x 1 hr/21 mL would give you mg*hr/mL^2. If you want to figure out mg/hr, you need to match up your equation as mg/mL x mL/hr, the mL cancel out and leave you with mg/hr.

Side note, an order for a medication written as mL/hr is invalid without a specified concentration of the drug. Your problem doesn't say that the order specified Aminophylline 1.2 mg/mL at 21 mL/hr, just that that's what you had on hand.