The physician gives orders to infuse 1000 mL lactated Ringer's to infuse at 125mL/hr for a postoperative patient. Tubing drop factor is 10 gtt/mL. Calculate the flow rate in drops per minute. (Round to the nearest whole number. Use a leading zero if it applies. Do not use a trailing zero.) Enter text here. ______ gtt/min

To calculate the IV flow rate in drops per minute, use the formula: Flow rate (gtt/min) = (Volume to infuse in mL ÷ Time in minutes) × Drop factor. The ordered rate is 125 mL/hr. Convert hours to minutes: 125 mL ÷ 60 minutes = 2.0833 mL/min. Multiply by the drop factor of 10 gtt/mL: 2.0833 × 10 = 20.833 gtt/min. Rounded to the nearest whole number, this equals 21 gtt/min. A common student mistake is forgetting to convert hours to minutes before dividing, or applying the drop factor incorrectly. Another error is rounding at an intermediate step rather than at the final answer, which can shift the result. The formula can also be written as (mL/hr × drop factor) ÷ 60 minutes: (125 × 10) ÷ 60 = 1250 ÷ 60 = 20.83, which rounds to 21 gtt/min. Both approaches yield the same answer. The leading zero rule applies when the answer is less than 1 (e.g., 0.5), but since this answer is a whole number, no leading zero is needed. The answer is 21 gtt/min.