You have received report on a patient with a heparin drip
but the nurse forgot to say what dosage the drip was infusing
at. The heparin bag is labeled 25,000 units in 250
mL NS and the IV pump is infusing at 20 mL/hr. In
this example,
20 mL/hr = rate, an infusion.
25,000 units = dosage available
250 mL = volume available
So the dosage ordered, an infusion, = 2000 units/hour
See the example below.
Formula
rate mL available
x
dose available
Using the formula on the example above looks
like this:
20cc/hr 250mL
x 25,000units
which = 2000 units/hr
It doesn't matter if you use milligrams or
units or something else in the formula.
