IV by gravity

every facility should have a policy that specifies the specific rate of a tko (to keep open) or kvo (keep vein open) iv. if they do not, then the doctor needs to be called for an order. an appropriate rate can be under 50 cc/hour. however, no iv should ever be infusing without specific infusion orders. iv pumps are capable of defaulting to and delivering 1 ml/hour. in facilities that i worked the kvo gravity rate was often 30cc/hour but a doctor can write any specific order they desire. if a doctor wrote an order such as "500 cc of d5w tko" we could automatically run the d5w at 30cc/hour because of the policy we had in place. it is very difficult to titrate a gravity drip iv any slower than that. pediatric (microdrip) tubing often needs to be used and the iv checked frequently because it is likely to clot off especially if the patient moves around a lot.

to save time when titrating the drops, i counted them over 15 or 30 second intervals of time. otherwise, trust me, you will be standing there forever adjusting the roller clamp to get the correct flow rate.