A nurse is preparing to administer cephalexin 25 mg/kg/day PO divided in equal doses every 6 hr to a toddler who weighs 26 lb. Available is cephalexin suspension 250 mg/5 mL. How many mL should the nurse administer per dose? (Round the answer to the nearest tenth. Use a leading zero if it applies. Do not use a trailing zero.)

To calculate the dosage of cephalexin for the toddler, first convert the weight from pounds to kilograms, knowing that 1 kilogram equals 2.2 pounds. The toddler weighs 26 lb, which is approximately 11.82 kg (26 / 2.2 = 11.82). Next, calculate the daily dose in milligrams using the prescribed dose of 25 mg/kg/day: 11.82 kg * 25 mg/kg/day = 295.5 mg/day. Since the medication is to be divided into equal doses every 6 hours, there will be four doses per day. Therefore, the dose per administration is 295.5 mg/day divided by 4, which equals 73.875 mg/dose. Now, using the concentration of the cephalexin suspension (250 mg/5 mL), calculate the volume of suspension needed per dose: 73.875 mg * (5 mL / 250 mg) = 1.4775 mL. Rounded to the nearest tenth, the nurse should administer 1.5 mL per dose.