A nurse is preparing to administer prednisolone 2 mg/kg/day PO divided in equal doses every 12 hr to a toddler who has acute asthma and weigh 26 lb. Available is prednisolone syrup 15 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 prednisolone syrup for the toddler, first convert the weight from pounds to kilograms, knowing that 1 kilogram equals 2.2 pounds. The toddler weighs 26 pounds, which is approximately 11.82 kilograms (26 / 2.2). The prescribed dose is 2 mg/kg/day, so the total daily dose is 23.64 mg (11.82 kg * 2 mg). This total daily dose should be divided into two equal doses to be given every 12 hours, resulting in 11.82 mg per dose. With the prednisolone syrup concentration of 15 mg/5 mL, use the formula: (desired dose * volume of one dose) / concentration of the drug to find the volume of syrup per dose. Therefore, the volume for each dose is (11.82 mg * 5 mL) / 15 mg, which equals 3.94 mL. After rounding to the nearest tenth, the nurse should administer 3.9 mL per dose.