A nurse is preparing to administer calcium carbonate 3.9 g PO daily in equally divided doses every 12 hr. Available is calcium carbonate 650 mg tablets. How many tablets should the nurse administer per dose? (Round the answer to the nearest whole number. Use a leading zero if it applies. Do not use a trailing zero.)

The nurse should administer 3 tablets of calcium carbonate per dose. Here's the breakdown: Daily dose: 3.9 g Dose frequency: Every 12 hours (meaning two doses per day) Tablet strength: 650 mg per tablet Step 1: Convert daily dose to milligrams Since tablets are typically measured in milligrams (mg), we need to convert the daily dose from grams (g) to milligrams (mg). There are 1000 milligrams in one gram: Daily dose (mg) = 3.9 g x 1000 mg/g = 3900 mg Step 2: Calculate the dose per administration Since the total daily dose is given to be administered in equally divided doses every 12 hours, we need to find the amount to be administered per dose Dose per administration = Daily dose / Number of doses per day = 3900 mg / 2 doses/day = 1950 mg Step 3: Find the number of tablets per dose Now, we can determine how many tablets are needed to deliver the calculated dose per administration. We can divide the dose per administration by the strength of each tablet (rounding to the nearest whole number): Number of tablets (rounded) = Dose per administration / Tablet strength = 1950 mg / 650 mg/tablet = 3.00 tablets (round to 3)