IV Flow Rate Calculations Nursing
Test Banks
ER
H
IV Flow Rates & Intravenous Medication Dosage Calculation Practice Exam (Quiz #1:
G
30 Questions)
HI
G
1. Question
N
A health care provider prescribes 1,500 mL of normal saline to be infused over seven
I
(7) hours. The drop factor is 15 drops/mL. The nurse should set the flow rate of the IV
Y
infusion pump at how many mL per hour (mL/hour) and drops per minute
L
(drops/minute)?
F
This question requires you to compute for two answers. Fill in the blanks and round your
final answers to a whole number.
o Answer: (214) mL/hour or (54) drops/minute
.
Correct answers:
, 2
· 214 mL/hour
· 54 drops/minute
Formula
ER
mL/h=total infusion volume(mL)total infusion time(h)mL/h=total infusion time(h)total
H
infusion volume(mL)
IG
H
Solving for the mL per hour (mL/hour)
G
· Use the IV flow rate formula (mL/hour) above.
N
· Divide 1,500 mL (total infusion volume) with 7 hours (total infusion
I
time) to get 214.28 mL.
Y
· Round off your final answer to get 214 mL/hour.
FL
1,500ml7hours=214.3mL/hour7hours1,500ml=214.3mL/hour
Solving for the drops per minute (drops/minute)
· Use the IV flow rate formula above.
, 3
· Convert 7 hours to minutes by multiplying 7 hours to 60 minutes per
hour and get 420 minutes.
· Divide 1,500 mL (total infusion volume) by 420 minutes (total
infusion time) to get 3.57 mL/minute.
·
ER
Multiply 3.57 mL/minute to the drop factor of 15 drops/mL to get
53.55 drops per mL.
·
GHRound up your final answer to get 54 drops per minute.
HI
1,500ml420minutesX15dropsmL=53.55drops/minute420minutes1,500mlXmL15drops=5
G
3.55drops/minute
IN
LY
2. 2. Question
F
A health care provider prescribes 1,200 mL of 0.45% normal saline solution to be
infused at 125 mL/hour. The drop factor is 12 drops/mL. How many drops per minute
should the nurse adjust the flow rate to safely administer the prescribed intravenous
solution?
Fill in the blank and round your final answer to the nearest whole number.
o Answer: (25) drops per minute
, 4
.
Correct answer
· 25 drops per minute
R
Formula
HE
Drops per minute (gtts/min)=Total infusion volume×drop factortotal time of infusion in
IG
minutesDrops per minute (gtts/min)=total time of infusion in minutesTotal infusion
volume×drop factor
GH
Solution and computation
IN
Y
1200mL×12drops/mL=14,400drops576minutes=25drops/minute576minutes1200mL×12
L
drops/mL=14,400drops=25drops/minute
F · Solve for the infusion time first since infusion time on this problem
is not explicitly stated. To calculate for the infusion time, divide 1,200 mL
(total infusion volume) with 125 mL/hour to get 9.6 hours (infusion time).