Quick IV calc. question

[SaltySarcasticSally, LPN, RN]

Any help appreciated because these particular IV questions are the only math that in nursing I seem to struggle with.

So for example: If I have 100 mL of a med that I need to infuse over 20 minutes IV, what would I set the pump at in mL per hour?

I do fine if its 30 minutes because then you just divide by 2 obviously but what would you do for 20 minutes, divided by 0.25?

[Lev, MSN, RN, NP]

100 ml^.........X ml

_______ x ________ = ??

20 min^.......60 min

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

20 minutes is 1/3 of an hour

[SaltySarcasticSally, LPN, RN]

thank you both!

[AliNajaCat]

Now, for extra credit, what if it's to be infused over 15 minutes?

10 minutes?

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

Any help appreciated because these particular IV questions are the only math that in nursing I seem to struggle with.

So for example: If I have 100 mL of a med that I need to infuse over 20 minutes IV, what would I set the pump at in mL per hour?

I do fine if its 30 minutes because then you just divide by 2 obviously but what would you do for 20 minutes, divided by 0.25?

You don't divide by 2 if the med is to be infused over 30 minutes. If you divide the volume by 2, you are dividing by 2 hrs. 100/2 = 50. If you are to infuse 100 mL of medication and set the pump at 50 mL/hr, it will take 2 hours to infuse your med.

To calculate the rate over 30 minutes, you divide by 1/2 (30 minutes = 1/2 hr).

To calculate the rate over 15 minutes, you divide by 1/4 (15 minutes = 1/4 hr).

To calculate the rate over 20 minutes, you divide by 1/3 (20 minutes = 1/3 hr). Or, multiply by 3, because dividing by 1/3 is the same as multiplying by 3.

[Apple-Core, ASN, BSN, RN]

So is the answer set the pump at a rate of 300ml/hr?

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

So is the answer set the pump at a rate of 300ml/hr?

Yes. If you want to infuse 100 mL in 20 minutes, the rate is 300 mL/hr.