Your patient requires a maintenance dose of 3% hypertonic saline following a 250mL bolus. You have tubing with a drip factor of 15 gtt/mL. What is the gtt/min of the maintenance dose?

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Multiple Choice

Your patient requires a maintenance dose of 3% hypertonic saline following a 250mL bolus. You have tubing with a drip factor of 15 gtt/mL. What is the gtt/min of the maintenance dose?

Explanation:
Converting an hourly IV maintenance rate into drops per minute using the drip factor is what this requires. The maintenance dose is 52 mL per hour. Drops per hour = 52 mL/hr × 15 gtt/mL = 780 gtt/hr. Drops per minute = 780 gtt/hr ÷ 60 min/hr = 13 gtt/min. The 3% saline concentration affects the amount of solute delivered, not the flow rate; the bolus is separate from the ongoing maintenance. If the maintenance volume changes, plug that new mL/hr into the same calculation.

Converting an hourly IV maintenance rate into drops per minute using the drip factor is what this requires. The maintenance dose is 52 mL per hour. Drops per hour = 52 mL/hr × 15 gtt/mL = 780 gtt/hr. Drops per minute = 780 gtt/hr ÷ 60 min/hr = 13 gtt/min. The 3% saline concentration affects the amount of solute delivered, not the flow rate; the bolus is separate from the ongoing maintenance. If the maintenance volume changes, plug that new mL/hr into the same calculation.

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