Question

What are the orders for the following IVs for 24 hours? Drop factor: 15 gtt/mL.

a) 1000 mL D5W with 10 mEq potassium chloride (KCl), 500 mL dextrose 5% in normal saline (D5NS) with 1 ampule multivitamin, 500 mL D5W
b) 1000 mL D5W with 10 mEq potassium chloride (KCl), 500 mL dextrose 5% in normal saline (D5NS) with 1 ampule multivitamin
c) 1000 mL D5W with 10 mEq potassium chloride (KCl), 500 mL D5W
d) 1000 mL D5W with 10 mEq potassium chloride (KCl)

Answer 1

An aide in a hospital will typically need to dilute a stock solution to prepare an IV bag with a specific concentration, such as 0.5% KCl. Using a 10% KCl stock solution, they would calculate that 5 mL is needed to dilute with a sterile solution to achieve the required 100 mL of 0.5% KCl for a patient with hypokalemia.

Step-by-step explanation:

In a hospital emergency room scenario, when a physician orders an intravenous (IV) delivery of 100 mL of 0.5% KCl for a patient with hypokalemia, an aide is unlikely to find a pre-made IV bag with this exact concentration. Instead, medical personnel typically perform dilutions using a sterile solution and a more concentrated stock solution of KCl. A common concentration for a stock solution of KCl is 10.0%. To achieve the desired 0.5% solution, the aide would use a dilution calculation:

(10%) V1 = (0.50%)(100 mL)

Through the calculation, we find that V1 = 5 mL. With this value, 5 mL of the 10% KCl stock solution is drawn up and injected into the IV bag containing sterile solution to dilute it to the 0.5% concentration required for treatment.

The process of preparing IV solutions, alongside calculating necessary measurements such as mass or molarity, is critical in medicine to ensure patients receive the correct dosage and concentration of their prescribed medication or fluids.