Question

A 4-year-old child is ordered to receive 25 ml/hour of I.V. solution. The nurse is using a pediatric microdrip chamber to administer the medication. For how many drops per minute should the microdrip chamber be set? Record your answer using a whole number.

a) 10 gtt/minute
b) 15 gtt/minute
c) 20 gtt/minute
d) 25 gtt/minute

Answer 1

The microdrip chamber should be set at 25 gtt/minute.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the number of drops per minute for the microdrip chamber, we need to use the formula:

Flow rate (ml/hour) x Drop factor (gtt/ml) / 60 = Drops per minute

In this case, the flow rate is 25 ml/hour. The drop factor for a pediatric microdrip chamber is usually 60 gtt/ml. Plugging in these values into the formula, we get:

25 ml/hour x 60 gtt/ml / 60 = 25 gtt/minute

Therefore, the microdrip chamber should be set at 25 gtt/minute.