Pharmacy Technician Certification Board Practice Exam

A patient is receiving total parenteral nutrition. If the prescription order is for 1500mL to be administered over 12 hours, what rate in mL/min should the nurse set the infusion at?

1. 1.25 mL/min

2. 2.08 mL/min

3. 25 mL/min

4. 125 mL/min

The correct answer is: 2.08 mL/min

To determine the correct infusion rate in mL/min for a total parenteral nutrition order of 1500 mL to be administered over 12 hours, you start by converting the time from hours to minutes. Since there are 60 minutes in an hour, 12 hours is equivalent to 720 minutes (12 hours × 60 minutes/hour = 720 minutes). Next, you calculate the infusion rate by dividing the total volume by the total time in minutes. Thus, you would divide 1500 mL by 720 minutes: \[ \text{Infusion rate} = \frac{1500 \text{ mL}}{720 \text{ minutes}} \approx 2.08 \text{ mL/min} \] This calculation confirms that the correct infusion rate to set for the total parenteral nutrition is approximately 2.08 mL/min. This value aligns with the dosing requirements to ensure that the patient receives the total 1500 mL within the specified 12-hour time frame.