A nurse is administering ciprofloxacin (Cipro) 250mg PO two times daily. If the available amount is 100mg/tablet, how many tablets should the nurse give each dose?

To determine how many tablets the nurse should give for each dose, it's essential to first calculate the required number of tablets based on the prescribed dosage and the available tablet strength.

The prescribed dosage of ciprofloxacin is 250mg per dose, and each tablet contains 100mg. To find out how many tablets are needed for a 250mg dose, you can divide the total required dose by the strength of a single tablet:

250mg (required dose) ÷ 100mg (strength of one tablet) = 2.5 tablets.

This calculation indicates that to achieve the prescribed dose of 250mg, the nurse should administer 2.5 tablets of the 100mg ciprofloxacin.

It's important to note that rounding down to 2 tablets would not provide the full prescribed dosage, resulting in a potential underdose, while rounding up to 3 tablets would exceed the required amount. Therefore, administering 2.5 tablets is the only option that delivers the correct total of 250mg.