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The nurse sets the electronic pump to deliver 200 mL/hr and after 30 minutes the 100 mL of medication would
have been infused.
Note: The mg of medication has nothing to do with calculating the flow rate. Don’t be confused and try to use
this number in your calculation!
Practice Problems # 20
Calculate the flow rate when using an electronic pump. The answers are on page 36 of the dosage calculations
packet. To obtain credit for dosage calculation questions, you must correctly label the answer mL/hr.
Record your answer using a whole number unless instructed otherwise.
1. Infuse 1,000 mL D5W (Dextrose 5% in Water) over 15 hours. (Record using one decimal place).
2. Infuse 600 mL LR (Lactated Ringers) over 3 hours.
3. Infuse 1,800 mL D5W (Dextrose 5% in Water) over 24 hours.
4. Infuse 3,000 mL LR (Lactated Ringers) over 24 hours.
5. Infuse 500 mL D5W (Dextrose 5% in Water) over 4 hours.
6. Infuse cimetidine (Tagamet) 300 mg IVPB mixed in 100 mL NS (0.9% Normal Saline) over 45 minutes.
(Record using one decimal place).
7. Infuse ampicillin (Omnipen) 500 mg IVPB mixed in 50 mL NS (0.9% Normal Saline) over 10 minutes.
8. Infuse cefazolin (Kefzol) 0.5 g IVPB mixed in 50 mL D5W (Dextrose 5% in Water) over 30 minutes.
9. Infuse 50 mL of an antibiotic over 25 minutes.
10. Infuse 80 mL of an antibiotic over 40 minutes.
MANUAL IV FLOW REGULATORS
Nurses are using fewer and fewer manual IV flow regulators to administer IV fluids/medications in the health
care setting. Another term used to describe these regulators is gravity drip IV infusions. This describes how
manual flow regulators work. The rate of infusion is dependant upon the gravity of the bag of IV
fluid/medication. The rate of these infusions will always be calculated in drops per minute (gtt/min). (There
will not be a pump!)
In order to calculate the accurate rate of infusion, the nurse must know the type of tubing or administration set
to be used. Each type of administration set has a drop chamber with either a macro drop set that delivers 10, 15
or 20 drops per milliliter while the micro drop set always delivers 60 drops per milliliter. This is referred to as
the drip (or drop) factor. To prevent errors in calculating the infusion rate, always check the manufacturer’s
label to verify the drip factor of the administration set.
The nurse will have to manually regulate the flow of IV fluid/medication when using the above administration
sets. There are two steps to this process. The first step is that the nurse must calculate the drop rate, which will
always be gtt/min. The second step is that the nurse will adjust the roller clamp on the IV tubing and count the
drops to insure accurate infusion. This type of infusion will have to be monitored frequently because kinked
tubing or a change in arm position can slow or increase the rate of flow.
There are various formulas to use to calculate the flow rates for manual IV regulators. The following formula
must be learned:
Example: Order: 3000 mL NS IV over 24 hrs.
Amount of fluid X Drop factor
Time (always in minutes)