Scenario: The on-line physician orders you to administer 80 mg of Lasix IV. On hand you have 100 mg in 10 cc’s. How many cc’s would you administer to give the ordered dose?

This is a pretty easy problem if you a little algebra to solve the problem. Of course you could use a formula to solve this problem, but that is not what you are here for; a formula is useless when you can’t find or remember it. To solve this problem, let’s look at the information we already have.

Q.  You are ordered to administer 300 cc/hr of NS. You are using a 20 drop set.
A.  100 drops per minute

            300 cc’s  x  20 drop set (or 20 drops = 1 cc)
            _____________________________________________     =    100 drops per minute
           
                                    60 minutes

Q.  You are ordered to administer 300 cc’s of NS in 30 minutes. You are using a 20 drop set.
A.  200 drops per minute

            300 cc’s  x  20 drop set (or 20 drops = 1 cc)
            _____________________________________________     =   200 drops per minute
           
                                    30 minutes

                                   
                        or   You could multiply the answer from the first question times 2 since the
                             same amount is given in half the time (same amount of fluid in half the
                             time = twice the number of drops)

Q.  You are ordered to administer 10 cc/kg to a patient that weighs 220 pounds. You are using a 20 drop set.
 How many cc’s of fluid will you administer.

A.  Real simple:  First: Convert the pounds to kilograms
                        220/2.2  =  100 kg

                  Second:  Multiply the number of kg times the number of cc/kg ordered by the physician.
                        100 kg x 10 cc  =  1000 cc

Q.  You are ordered to administer 100 cc/hr. You are using a 60 drop set.
A.  100 drops per minute

                        100cc  x  60 drop set (or 60 drops = 1 cc)
                        __________________________________________   =  100 drops per minute

                                        60 minutes

                                                or

                        100  cc   x  60 drop set           100  cc   x  1 drop set
                        _______________________            _______________________     =   100
                                                                       
                                    60 minutes                             1 minute