77. A pediatric nurse prepares to infuse a fluid bolus of 300 mL NS over 1 hour. A nurse plans to use microdrip IV tubing. The nurse calculates that the drip rate for this infusion should be _______ gtt/min.
77. A pediatric nurse prepares to infuse a fluid bolus of 300 mL NS over 1 hour. A nurse plans to use microdrip IV tubing. The nurse calculates that the drip rate for this infusion should be _______ gtt/min.
Test-Taking Tip
Determine the infusion time in minute rather than hour increments to arrive at the correct response.
Content Area: Child Health, Pharmacology; Integrated Process: Nursing Process, Implementation; Cognitive Level: Analysis; Client Need/Subneed: Physiological Integrity/Pharmacological and Parenteral Therapies/Dosage Calculation
300
To arrive at the correct answer, first recall that microdrip tubing has a drip rate of 60 mL/min. Next, multiply the volume to be infused by the drop factor (300 × 60) to arrive at 18,000. Then, divide this answer by the infusion time (18,000/60) to arrive at the correct response of 300 drops per minute.