Worked example

Oral dose - tablets - practice problem 5

The prescriber orders 50 mg of prednisone PO. The pharmacy stocks prednisone in 50 mg tablets.

Ordered dose50 mg
On hand50 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: 50 mg per tablet · Want: 50 mg
2. Set up dimensional analysis so mg cancels
50 mg × ( 1 tablet ÷ 50 mg )
3. Cancel mg and solve
= ( 50 × 1 ) ÷ 50 tablet
= 1 tablet

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