If a physician orders a primary IV of 1 L D5NS with mEq KCL every 8 hours, what is the flow rate for gravity IV if the drop factor is 15 gtt/min?

To determine the flow rate for a gravity IV, it's important to first understand how to calculate the flow rate in drops per minute (gtt/min). The order specifies a primary IV of 1 liter (1000 mL) to be administered every 8 hours.

First, you need to convert the time from hours to minutes, because the drop rate will be calculated in minutes. Since 8 hours is equivalent to 480 minutes (8 hours x 60 minutes/hour), you will administer 1000 mL over this period.

Next, to find the flow rate in mL per minute, divide the total volume by the total time in minutes:

1000 mL / 480 minutes = 2.08 mL/min (approximately).

Now, to convert mL/min to gtt/min, you use the drop factor, which is the number of drops per mL. In this case, the drop factor is 15 gtt/mL. To find the flow rate in drops per minute, multiply the flow rate in mL/min by the drop factor:

2.08 mL/min * 15 gtt/mL = 31.2 gtt/min.

It seems that the given answer seems to be higher