Question

A nurse needs to infuse 1 unit packed cells (240 mL) over 4

hours per order. The nurse has a blood administration set with a
drop factor of 15 gtt/mL. What is the flow rate for this
transfusion?

Answer 1

The flow rate for the transfusion using a blood administration set with a drop factor of 15 gtt/mL and needing to infuse 240 mL over 4 hours is 15 gtt/min.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the flow rate for the transfusion using a blood administration set, we can use the formula:
Flow rate (gtt/min) = (Volume to be infused (mL) × drop factor (gtt/mL)) / time (min).

In this case, the volume to be infused is 240 mL of packed cells, and it needs to be infused over 4 hours. However, since the flow rate must be in minutes, we need to convert 4 hours into minutes (4 hours × 60 minutes/hour = 240 minutes). The drop factor given is 15 gtt/mL.

So, the flow rate is calculated as follows:
Flow rate (gtt/min) = (240 mL × 15 gtt/mL) / 240 min
Flow rate (gtt/min) = 3600 gtt / 240 min
Flow rate (gtt/min) = 15 gtt/min.