The healthcare provider prescribes one liter of normal saline to infuse over 12 hours. The IV administration set delivers 20 gtt/mL. How many gtt/minute should the nurse regulate the infusion? (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 = 12 hours = 12 hours x 60 minutes/hour = 720 minutes. Drip factor of the IV tubing = 20 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 20 gtt/mL) / 720 min = 20000 gtt / 720 min = 27.777... gtt/min. Round to the nearest whole number = 28 gtt/min.