How counting the drops counts

IV drip rate calculation formula: volume (ml) X drop factor (gtts /ml) / time (min) = gtts/min (flow rate)

When’s the last time you saw a nurse hanging an IV bag that wasn’t run through an automatic infusion pump? Would you trust the math of a brand new nurse enough to bet your life on it? Advances in modern medicine have alleviated the need for you to count on a human being’s ability to count the drops.

But should the ability to manually perform the equation be dropped from nursing education curriculum?

Smart pumps, infusion pumps, automatic IV drip – they’re all versions of the current generation in technology-assisted medical devices. Units are programmed to automatically calculate and infuse medications at prescribed “drops per minute.” They undoubtedly make the task of multi-patient care easier, and overall, safer for the patient.

You know what else is safer for the patient? If the nurse has the ability to do both. Because during hurricanes and other natural disasters, the power has a nasty habit of going out. And sometimes, machines malfunction, and the nurse needs to be able to take that situation over manually.

Every professional nurse knows that equation. They may never have to manually count drops in any other capacity than their skills tests in school, but having those skills accentuates the control they command over automatic situations.

Clearly, since this is a trucking oriented forum, I’m making an analogy here. Or at least trying to.

I’m going out on a limb. I’ll probably get myself in trouble with someone, but that’s kind of a thing for me, so here goes.

Commercial driver’s licenses being should not be issued without the driver performing acceptable skills with a manual transmission. I do not agree that it’s safer to have drivers who don’t know how to operate the full scope of equipment they may have to operate during their tenure as a commercial driver.

However, there is a place for everything. George’s left knee is so bad, I sometimes wish he’d give up the manual. Granted, we have a running joke that he hasn’t actually clutched in 10,000 miles, but that’s just a joke.

What’s not a joke is, he can jump in pretty much any truck/heavy equipment/big thing with wheels that needs to be moved and move it. And during times of emergency, when the truckers are the first people called upon, that’s a good skill.

Being a professional doesn’t just mean having the piece of paper that says you’re a professional. Education, training and a full understanding of the equipment can only make you better at what you do.