A nurse is preparing to administer D5 lactated Ringer's at 150 mL/hr by continuous IV infusion. The drop factor of the manual IV tubing is 20 gtt/mL.. The nurse set the manual infusion to deliver how many gtt/min? Round off to the nearest whole number. Enter numeric value only (numbers and decimal points only, no commas or labels)

Identify the given information: Flow rate: 150 mL/hr Drop factor: 20 gtt/mL Determine the drop rate: Set up a proportion to solve for the unknown drop rate (X): 20 gtt/mL = X gtt/1 min Cross-multiplying gives us: 20 gtt x 1 min = 1 mL x X gtt Simplifying: 20 = X Drop rate is 20 gtt/min. Convert the flow rate to drops per minute: Find how many drops per minute are equivalent to 150 mL/hr. Set up a proportion to solve for the unknown drop rate (X): 150 mL/60 min = X gtt/1 min Cross-multiplying gives us: 150 mL x 1 min = 60 min x X gtt Simplifying: 150 = 60X Solving for X: X = 150 / 60 = 2.5 gtt/min