IVP Rates

[Java Mama]

Hi! I'm a second semester student and I have a question about IV push rates. I feel very confused how to set up the equation to figure this out. We haven't went over this much in class yet, but would like to understand how to do this. If you have 1.5 mL of a medication and it can be given over 3 minutes, should you be counting the lines on the syringe to figure this out or what? I'd appreciate any explanations to help me figure an easy way of doing this. I'm use to doing dimensional analysis. Thanks again!

[Sun0408, ASN, RN]

No math needed.. Most of us just watch the clock and push it very slow.. A little bit this push, wait, a little more, wait, a little more, wait.. You get the picture.. Some meds I dilute in NS and still push slow but with a larger volume in the syringe, its easier.

[Java Mama]

I figured that's how it's done in the real world, but we have to calculate this and perform it in our check-offs for clinical, so that is why I wanted to know if there is an easy way to figure it out. I assume it is mL given over minutes??? But I'm not quite sure.

[DixieRedHead, ASN, RN]

1.5

______ = .5ml/min

3

[Sun0408, ASN, RN]

Sorry didn't know it was an actual test for you. When I was in school, they didn't test on IV push meds, just drip rate, etc..

[PinkCupcake]

DixieRedHead has it right. All you do is take the amount you need to push and divide that number by the number of minutes to get your ml/min rate.

[Pneumothorax, BSN, RN]

1ml a min is what they tell us.

most meds are IVP over 3-5min unless its something like adenosine which is fast IVP

[Java Mama]

Thank you all for your comments. When they were "explaining" this to us, they made it seem SO much harder. If they would have just showed it this way, I would have understood it. Thanks again, I appreciate it!