Question

You receive an order to run an IV at 2 L over 24 hours. With a drop factor of 10 gtts/mL, what should be the drops per minute that are needed? (answer should be rounded to the nearest whole number.)
A. 21 gtts/min
B. 14 gtts/min
C. 7 gtts/min
D. 30 gtts/min

Answer 1

To calculate the drops per minute (gtts/min), we can use the following formula:

\[
\text{Drops per minute} = \left( \frac{\text{Total volume (mL)}}{\text{Total time (min)}} \right) \times \text{Drop factor (gtts/mL)}
\]

1. **Convert the total volume from liters to milliliters**:
\[
2 \text{ L} = 2000 \text{ mL}
\]

2. **Convert the total time from hours to minutes**:
\[
24 \text{ hours} = 24 \times 60 = 1440 \text{ minutes}
\]

3. **Now, plug the values into the formula**:
\[
\text{Drops per minute} = \left( \frac{2000 \text{ mL}}{1440 \text{ min}} \right) \times 10 \text{ gtts/mL}
\]

4. **Calculate the mL per min**:
\[
\frac{2000}{1440} \approx 1.3889 \text{ mL/min}
\]

5. **Now multiply by the drop factor**:
\[
1.3889 \text{ mL/min} \times 10 \text{ gtts/mL} = 13.889 \text{ gtts/min}
\]

6. **Round to the nearest whole number**:
\[
\text{Drops per minute} \approx 14 \text{ gtts/min}
\]

Thus, the answer is **B. 14 gtts/min**.