A patient receives a prescription for oxytocin 2 milliunits/min intravenously (IV) for labor augmentation. The IV bag contains oxytocin 20 units in lactated Ringer’s 1 liter. How many mL/hour should the nurse program the infusion pump to deliver? (Enter numerical value only.)
The correct answer and Explanation is :
To calculate the rate at which the nurse should set the infusion pump, follow these steps:
- Determine the total amount of oxytocin in the IV bag:
- The IV bag contains 20 units of oxytocin in 1 liter (1000 mL) of lactated Ringer’s solution.
- Calculate the concentration of oxytocin in the IV solution:
- Concentration (units/mL) = Total units of oxytocin / Total volume of solution
- Concentration = 20 units / 1000 mL = 0.02 units/mL
- Determine the required infusion rate in units per minute:
- The prescription is for 2 milliunits/min. Since 1 unit = 1000 milliunits, 2 milliunits = 0.002 units.
- Therefore, the patient needs 0.002 units per minute.
- Calculate the volume of IV solution required per minute:
- Volume per minute (mL/min) = Required dose (units/min) / Concentration (units/mL)
- Volume per minute = 0.002 units/min / 0.02 units/mL = 0.1 mL/min
- Convert the volume per minute to mL per hour:
- To find the rate per hour, multiply by 60 (minutes per hour):
- Volume per hour (mL/hour) = 0.1 mL/min × 60 min/hour = 6 mL/hour
Therefore, the nurse should program the infusion pump to deliver 6 mL/hour.
Explanation:
The calculation starts with understanding the concentration of the oxytocin in the IV bag, which is a crucial step to determine how much solution contains the prescribed dose. By converting the prescribed dose into a manageable unit and then determining how much solution needs to be infused per minute, we ensure that the medication is administered at the correct rate. Finally, converting this rate into mL per hour provides the infusion pump setting, ensuring that the patient receives the precise amount of medication needed for effective labor augmentation.