More Med Math Tips: Drip Rates

Maybe this is why 60-drip sets were invented…but no one ever told me, so I feel clever having figured this out.

Your medication dose in mL per hour is equal to the required drips per minute when using a 60 drip set.

Here is the proof. Keep in mind that we’re essentially converting units

Remember that 60 drips = 1 ml, and 60 minutes = 1 hour, so we’re only multiply by different versions of one to maintain equality. Drips and minutes cancel, leaving mLs and hours.

If you’re using a 15-drip set, just take your mL per hour rate and divide by 4. Because…

For a 10-drip set you can try dividing by 6, but chances are that won’t be easily done in your head.