A nurse is preparing to administer 0.9% sodium chloride 250 mL IV to infuse over 3 hr. The drop factor of the manual IV tubing is 10 gtt/mL. The nurse should set the IV 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.)

Calculation: Determine the total volume to be infused: Total volume: 250 mL Determine the total infusion time in minutes: Infusion time: 3 hours × 60 minutes/hour = 180 minutes Determine the drop factor of the IV tubing: Drop factor: 10 gtt/mL Calculate the total number of drops needed: Formula: Total drops (gtt) = Total volume (mL) × Drop factor (gtt/mL) = 250 mL × 10 gtt/mL = 2500 gtt Calculate the flow rate in drops per minute (gtt/min): Formula: Flow rate (gtt/min) = Total drops (gtt) / Total time (minutes) = 2500 gtt / 180 minutes ≈ 13.89 gtt/min Round the answer to the nearest whole number: 13.89 gtt/min rounded to the nearest whole number is 14 gtt/min.