right now the tough stuff

Iv flow rates:

common drop factors are:

• 10 drops/ml blood set
• 15 drops/ml in crystalloid set

to measure the flow rate you must know

1. the number of drops
2. the time in minutes

The sum is

volume/ml X drop factor =drops/min (or flow rate)
time/min

so the volume in ml over time in minutes multiplied by the drop factor

so crystalloid drop rate is 15/ml (as noted above)

example

you want to give sodium chloride 120 mls over one hour

120 (mls)X 15 (drop factor) = 30 drops per minute
divided by
60 (minutes)

your question:

you need to give 500mls of normal saline over 4 hours, what is the flow rate (remember to convert the hours to minutes, the drop rate for a crystalloid is 15/ml ) so use these figures in your sum!

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