Samuel Merrit University Oaklands Hesi Maternity (Labor and Delivery)
Samuel Merrit University Oaklands Hesi Maternity (Labor and Delivery) ( 44 Questions)
The healthcare provider prescribes oxytocin 2 milliunits/minute to induce labor for a client at 41-weeks gestation. The nurse initiates an infusion of Ringer's Lactate solution 1000 mL with oxytocin 10 units. How many mL/hour should the nurse program the infusion pump? (Enter numeric value only. If rounding is required, round to the nearest whole number)
To solve this problem, the nurse needs to convert the units of oxytocin from units to milliunits.
One unit of oxytocin is equal to 1000 milliunits, so 10 units of oxytocin is equal to 10,000 milliunits.
- The concentration of oxytocin in the solution is 10,000 milliunits per 1000 mL, or 10 milliunits per mL.
- To deliver 2 milliunits per minute, the nurse needs to infuse 0.2 mL per minute of the solution.
- To convert from mL per minute to mL per hour, the nurse needs to multiply by 60 minutes per hour.
- Therefore, the nurse should program the infusion pump to deliver 0.2 x 60 = 12 mL per hour of the solution.