A patient is to receive 1250mL of D5LR over 10 hours. What is the flow rate in gtts/min if the drop factor is 20gtts/mL?

To determine the flow rate in drops per minute (gtts/min), you start by calculating the total volume to be infused and the total time of infusion in minutes.

First, convert the infusion time from hours to minutes:

10 hours × 60 minutes/hour = 600 minutes.

Next, you have a total volume of 1250 mL to be infused over that time. To find the flow rate in mL/min, use the following formula:

Flow rate (mL/min) = Total volume (mL) / Total time (min)

Flow rate (mL/min) = 1250 mL / 600 min = 2.0833 mL/min.

Now that you have the flow rate in mL/min, you need to convert this to drops per minute using the drop factor. The drop factor is the number of drops per mL, which in this case is 20 gtts/mL.

To find the flow rate in gtts/min, multiply the flow rate in mL/min by the drop factor:

Flow rate (gtts/min) = Flow rate (mL/min) × Drop factor (gtts/mL)

Flow rate (gtts/min) = 2.0833 m