Questions: Order: 1000 mL NS (0.9% Normal Saline) to infuse in 8 hours. Drop factor = 15 gtt / mL. Calculate gtt / min.

Solution Steps

To solve this problem, we need to calculate the drip rate in drops per minute (gtt/min). The formula to use is:

\[ \text{Drip Rate (gtt/min)} = \left( \frac{\text{Total Volume (mL)}}{\text{Total Time (min)}} \right) \times \text{Drop Factor (gtt/mL)} \]

1. Convert the total infusion time from hours to minutes.
2. Use the formula to calculate the drip rate.

The total infusion time is given in hours. To convert it to minutes, we use the conversion factor \(1 \text{ hour} = 60 \text{ minutes}\).

\[ \text{Total Time (min)} = 8 \text{ hours} \times 60 \text{ min/hour} = 480 \text{ min} \]

The formula to calculate the drip rate in drops per minute (\(\text{gtt/min}\)) is:

\[ \text{Drip Rate (gtt/min)} = \left( \frac{\text{Total Volume (mL)}}{\text{Total Time (min)}} \right) \times \text{Drop Factor (gtt/mL)} \]

Substituting the given values:

\[ \text{Drip Rate (gtt/min)} = \left( \frac{1000 \text{ mL}}{480 \text{ min}} \right) \times 15 \text{ gtt/mL} \]

First, calculate the volume per minute:

\[ \frac{1000 \text{ mL}}{480 \text{ min}} \approx 2.0833 \text{ mL/min} \]

Next, multiply by the drop factor:

\[ 2.0833 \text{ mL/min} \times 15 \text{ gtt/mL} \approx 31.25 \text{ gtt/min} \]

Final Answer