A nurse is preparing to administer 0.9% sodium chloride 1,000 mL IV to infuse over 4 hr. The drop factor on the manual tubing is 12 gtt/mL. The nurse should regulate the flow rate to deliver how many gtt/min? (Round the answer to the nearest whole number. Use a leading zero if it applies. Do not use a trailing zero.)

Total volume to be infused = 1,000 mL. Infusion time in hours = 4 hr. Convert the infusion time from hours to minutes. Infusion time in minutes = 4 hr × 60 min/hr = 240 min. Drop factor of the manual IV tubing = 12 gtt/mL. Calculate the flow rate in gtt/min. Flow rate (gtt/min) = (Total volume (mL) × Drop factor (gtt/mL)) / Infusion time (min) = (1,000 mL × 12 gtt/mL) / 240 min = 12,000 / 240 gtt/min = 50 gtt/min.