FORMULA: (MUST BE MEMORIZED)

Amount of fluid x drops/milliliter (IV set)

Hours to administer x minutes/hour (60)

EXAMPLE:

Order: give 1000 cc lactated Ringers over 4 hours using a 10 gtts/min drip set
*remember cc and ml are equal. And 4 hours is equal to 240 minutes.

** PLUG IN NUMBERS INTO THE FORMULA:

Amount of fluid (1000 ml) x drops/milliliter [drip set] (10 gtts/min)

Hours to administer listed in minutes (240)

1000 x 10
240

10,000
240

41.66 gtts/min ** remember “A drop is a drop, or its not”

ANSWER: 42 drops/min

To calculate infusion time (total hours)

Determine the total voulume to be infused
Determine ml/hr
Convert gtt/min to ml/h if ml/h is unknown

DO NOT ROUND MEDICATION DOSAGES TO THE NEAREST

WHOLE NUMBER. THIS COULD RESULT IN AN OVERDOSE. 
CAN RESULT IN AN OVERDOSE.

Solve for X hint

To set us a ration and proportion, you must always put on the left-
handed side what you already have or know.
On the right hand side, you put an X or what you want to know.
Each side must be set up the same way.
50 mg = x mg
500 dsw 1 ml

IF ANSWER IS LESS THAN A ml round to the nearest hundredth.

ONE ML or GREATER  round to the nearest decimal point
DROPS ARE ROUNDED TO THE NEAREST DROP; A DROP IS A
DROP OR ITS NOT!!

A lethal error can be made if the total dose in a multi-dose container is

mistaken for the unit dose.
A lethal error can be made if an IM preparation is given IV

If a tablet is “scored” to denote a breaking point, you may break it.

CONCENTRATION PURPLE BOOK PG 288

Lidocaine 1 GM in 500 ml infuse at 2 mg/min
First determine the drip concentration
1 GM in 500 ml then how many mg in ml

Concentration
Determine how much drug is in the solution
Always determine the drug concentration at 1 ml

Give zosyn 2 g, IV q 6 hr.

Available: reconstitute each 1 g with 5 ml of diluent
Set and solution: 50 ml or 0.9% nacl or d5w with drop factor 15 gtt/ml
Instructions: dilute drug in 50 ml: infuse over 30 min
What is the correct drug dosage?
1 g = 5 ml so 2 g = 10 ml
10 ml
What is the flow rate in gtt/min?
60 x 15 = 30 gtt/min
30

CRITICAL CARE: INFUSION RATES

• Answer these questions – questions cannot always be
answered in sequence
1. what is the concentration of the solution?
2. what is the volume per minute?
3. what is the concentration per hour?
4. what is the volume per hour?
LIDOCAINE 2 g in 500 ml D5W at 3 mg/min
1. conc of soln  4 mg /hr
2. vol/min  0.75 ml/min
3. vol/hr  45 ml/ hr
4. conc/min  3 mg/ min
5. conc / hr  180 mg/ hr