A client receives a prescription for 1 liter of lactated Ringer's IV to be infused over 8 hours. The IV administration set delivers 20 gtt/mL. How many gtt/min should the nurse regulate the infusion? (Enter numerical value only. If rounding is required, round to nearest whole number.)

Given: Volume of fluid: 1 liter = 1000 mL Infusion time: 8 hours Drop factor: 20 gtt/mL Formula: Flow rate (gtt/min) = (Volume (mL) / Time (hr)) x Drop factor (gtt/mL) / 60 min/hr Step 1: Calculate the infusion rate in mL/hr: Infusion rate (mL/hr) = Volume (mL) / Time (hr) Infusion rate (mL/hr) = 1000 mL / 8 hr Infusion rate (mL/hr) = 125 mL/hr Step 2: Calculate the flow rate in gtt/min: Flow rate (gtt/min) = (Infusion rate (mL/hr) x Drop factor (gtt/mL)) / 60 min/hr Flow rate (gtt/min) = (125 mL/hr x 20 gtt/mL) / 60 min/hr Flow rate (gtt/min) = 2500 gtt/hr / 60 min/hr Flow rate (gtt/min) = 41.667 gtt/min Step 3: Round to the nearest whole number: Flow rate (gtt/min) ≈ 42 gtt/min