PITOCIN HELP!!!

I use the formula method, so I can't comment on your analysis of the problem, but this is how I solved it...

The order is for 16mu/min. You are given 10 units in 500mL.

First thing I did was convert units to mu: 10,000mu/500mL

Then, I figured how many mu/mL: 10000 / 500 = 20mu/mL

Then, I figured how many mu would infuse/hour: 16mu * 60min = 960mu/hour

So, to figure out how many mL/hour I divided the mu/hour by the mu/mL: 960mu / 20mL = 48mL/hour

Hopefully you find this helpful! :)

I'm struggling to understand what I'm doing wrong for this pitocin calc...

This is the question: The physician ordered the pitocin infusion to run at 16mu/min. The pharmacy sent up 10 units of pitocin in 500mL of D5LR. You would set your pump at _____________ mL/hour.

I have never worked backwards like this (normally the questions we get in class ask for a the initial rate, titration rate and final rate) and I'm not sure if I'm even doing the right thing but here it goes..

10ux1000= 10mu.

10,000mu/500= 20mu/ml

16mu/1min = 20mu/1ml = 1hr/60min...and then I get some weird answer which is definitely wrong b/c the answer given is 48ml/hr.

Does anyone have any idea what I'm doing wrong?? I just don't see it!

Let's look at what you did here:

16mu/1min = 20mu/1ml = 1hr/60min

None of these things are true. 16 mu/min does not EQUAL 20 mu/1mL which does not equal 1 hr/60 min. You need to multiply here.

16 mu/min MULTIPLIED BY 1 mL/20 mu MULTIPLIED BY 60 min/1 hr will give you 48 mL/hr.

You need to pay attention to your units. The way you had the problem set up, your answer would be milliunits SQUARED x 1 hr over minutes squared x 1 mL.