A client is receiving one liter of D5W 0.45% normal saline IV every 8 hours by gravity infusion. The IV tubing has a drip factor of 12 gtt/ml. The nurse should regulate the IV to deliver how many drops per minute? (Enter numeric value only. If rounding is required, round to the nearest whole number.)

Calculation: Identify the total volume to infuse and convert to milliliters (mL). Total volume = 1 liter 1L = 1000 mL Total volume (mL) = 1000 mL. Total infusion time and convert to minutes. Infusion time = 8 hours = 8 hours x 60 minutes/hour = 480 minutes. Drip factor of the IV tubing = 12 gtt/mL. Calculate the infusion rate in drops per minute (gtt/min). Infusion rate (gtt/min) = (Total volume (mL) x Drip factor (gtt/mL)) / Total time (min) = (1000 mL x 12 gtt/mL) / 480 min = 12000 gtt / 480 min = 25 gtt/min..