Question

If a patient continuously 8 hours administrated 5 % of glucose in 1000ml, then calculate the rate of dp/min per hour, ml per minute and drops per minute?

Answer 1

Step 1: ml per hour:

This is the total volume (1000ml) divided by the time (8 hours).

125/1000/8 = 125mls

Step 2: ml per minute:

This is the number of mls per hour (125) divided by the number of minutes per hour (60)

= 125/60

Step 3: Drops per minute:

This is the number of drops per ml multiplied by the number of ml per minute

The number of drops per ml depends on the fluid you are giving and the type of administration set you are using. If we are giving solutions via a giving set the number of drops per ml and the 60 minutes per hour always stay the same. This means that steps 2 and 3 can be combined