For the 900 mL infusion over 9 hours with a drop factor of 15 gtt/mL, how many total drops would be delivered during the infusion?

For the 900 mL infusion over 9 hours with a drop factor of 15 gtt/mL, how many total drops would be delivered during the infusion?

• A. 1,350 gtt
• B. 6,750 gtt
• C. 13,500 gtt
• D. 27,000 gtt

Answer: (C)

Drops per milliliter, or drop factor, tells you how many individual drops make up 1 milliliter. To find how many total drops will be delivered for a given volume, multiply the volume by the drop factor. Here, 900 mL × 15 gtt/mL equals 13,500 drops delivered in total. The infusion time isn’t needed to get the total number of drops, but if you wanted the drip rate, you’d divide by the total minutes: 9 hours is 540 minutes, so the rate would be 13,500 ÷ 540 ≈ 25 gtt per minute.

Drops per milliliter, or drop factor, tells you how many individual drops make up 1 milliliter. To find how many total drops will be delivered for a given volume, multiply the volume by the drop factor. Here, 900 mL × 15 gtt/mL equals 13,500 drops delivered in total. The infusion time isn’t needed to get the total number of drops, but if you wanted the drip rate, you’d divide by the total minutes: 9 hours is 540 minutes, so the rate would be 13,500 ÷ 540 ≈ 25 gtt per minute.