Question

a provider prescribes dextrose 5% in water iv to infuse at 100 ml/hr. the drop factor on the manual iv tubing is 60 gtt/ml. the nurse should set the iv flow rate to deliver how many gtt/min? (round the answer to the nearest whole number.)

Explanation:

Step1: Convert hours to minutes

Since there are 60 minutes in an hour, we use the conversion factor $\frac{1\ \text{hr}}{60\ \text{min}}$.

Step2: Use the formula for IV flow rate

The formula for IV flow rate (gtt/min) is $\text{Flow rate (gtt/min)}=\frac{\text{Volume (mL)}}{\text{Time (min)}}\times\text{Drop factor (gtt/mL)}$.
Substituting the given values: $\text{Volume}=100\ \text{mL}$, $\text{Time}=60\ \text{min}$ (from step 1), and $\text{Drop factor}=60\ \text{gtt/mL}$.
So, $\text{Flow rate (gtt/min)}=\frac{100\ \text{mL}}{60\ \text{min}}\times60\ \text{gtt/mL}$.
The $60$ in the numerator and denominator cancels out, leaving $100\ \text{gtt/min}$.

Answer:

100 gtt/min