Formula sheets, the key method steps for every topic and 4 practice problems, with full solutions at the back.
Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). The record shows a patient's intake and output for one 8-hour shift. The patient weighs 57 kg. Find the average urine output U in mL/kg/h. Round to two decimal places.
Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). A 1000 mL bag runs by pump at 50 mL/h. At 13:30, 600 mL have already been infused. How many hours t until the bag is empty? Round to one decimal place.
An infusion is ordered at 60 mL/h, but no pump is available. It runs by gravity through a giving set of 60 gtt/mL. Find the drip rate R in drops per minute.
A bag contains 4 g of a drug in 1000 mL. The order is 0.5 mg per minute. At what rate R do you set the pump, in mL/h?
Answer: U = 1.54 mL/kg/h
Intake and output: intake counts everything that goes in (oral fluids, IV infusions, IV medications and flushes, tube feeds); ice chips count as half their volume. Output counts urine, drains, vomit and other losses. Balance = total intake − total output; a negative balance is a net loss. The numbers are for practice only; at the bedside always follow local protocols and have high-risk doses double-checked.
Answer: t = 8 h
Infusion time: time (h) = volume to infuse (mL)/rate (mL/h); use the volume still left in the bag, not the bag size. Volume infused = rate × time. Convert decimal hours to hours and minutes with the fraction × 60 (0.5 h = 30 min, not 50 min). The numbers are for practice only; at the bedside always follow local protocols and have high-risk doses double-checked.
That is about 8 h 00 min, so the bag runs out at about 21:30.
Answer: R = 60 gtt/min
Infusion rates: a pump is set in mL/h = volume/time in hours. A gravity drip is counted in drops per minute: gtt/min = volume (mL) × drop factor (gtt/mL)/time (min). The drop factor is printed on the tubing package: macrodrip sets deliver 10, 15 or 20 gtt/mL (blood sets often 10 gtt/mL in the US, 15 in the UK) and microdrip sets 60 gtt/mL. Always use the drop factor the question or package gives.
With a microdrip set (60 gtt/mL), gtt/min equals mL/h.
Answer: R = 7.5 mL/h
Dose-based infusions: concentration = amount of drug in the bag/bag volume. Pump rate (mL/h) = dose per hour/concentration, and dose per hour = mL/h × concentration. Convert per-minute doses to per-hour (× 60) and keep the mass units the same (1 g = 1000 mg, 1 mg = 1000 mcg).
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