Health Promotion and Maintenance
20. A physician orders oxytocin IV at 2 milliunits/minute for the induction of labor. The premixed IV has 15 units of oxytocin in 250 mL of normal saline. A nurse calculates that _______ mL/hr should be administered to the client via an infusion pump.
Test-Taking Tip
Pay attention to the concentration of the oxytocin and the final calculation. The concentration is 15 units/250 mL, but the conversion must be done to milliunits per minute or the answer will be incorrect.
Content Area: Maternity, Intrapartum; Integrated Process: Nursing Process, Analysis; Cognitive Level: Analysis; Client Need/Subneed: Physiological Integrity/Pharmacological and Parenteral Therapies/Dosage Calculation
Health Promotion and Maintenance
2
The answer is calculated as follows:
15 units/250 mL or 60 units/1000 mL = 0.06 units/mL (concentration of the drug)
0.06 units/hr (60 minutes = 0.001 units/min)
0.001 units/min × 1000 (for conversion to milliunits) = 1 milliunit/min × 2 = 2 milliunits/min infusion rate