Difficulty: Medium
Average Score: 63%
Simulated
A nurse is caring for a client who is postoperative following an appendectomy and is prescribed D, lactated Ringer's at 150 mL/hr by continuous IV infusion for 10 hours. The drop factor of the manual IV tubing is 12 gtt/mL. The nurse should set the manual IV infusion to deliver how many gtt/min?
Correct answer
30
Rationale
The nurse should set the manual IV infusion to deliver 30 gtt/min, calculated as follows: Total volume = 150 mL/hr ├ù 10 hr = 1500 mL. Total drops = 1500 mL ├ù 12 gtt/mL = 18000 gtt. Infusion rate = 18000 gtt ├À (10 ├ù 60 min) = 30 gtt/min.