Examples · Oral dose — tablets
Worked example
Oral dose — tablets — practice problem 2
The prescriber orders 5 mg of levothyroxine PO. The pharmacy stocks levothyroxine in 5 mg tablets.
Ordered dose5 mg
On hand5 mg per tablet
How many tablets should the nurse give?
Answer: 1 tablet
Step-by-step solution
1. Identify what you have and what you want
Have: 5 mg per tablet · Want: 5 mg
2. Set up dimensional analysis so mg cancels
5 mg × ( 1 tablet ÷ 5 mg )
3. Cancel mg and solve
= ( 5 × 1 ) ÷ 5 tablet
= 1 tablet
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