If a physician writes an order for 400 mL of D5W to be infused over a 4-hour time period, and the IV drop factor is 12 gtt/mL, how many drops per minute should be delivered?

To solve this problem, you must first find the total number of minutes:
60 x 4 = 240
Then find mL/min:
400/240 = 1.67 ml infused in 1 minute.
Then multiply this by the drop factor:
1.67 x 12 = 20 drops per minute.