A nurse is preparing to administer propylthiouracil 300 mg/day PO in three equal doses to a client who is at 8 weeks of gestation and is experiencing hyperthyroidism. Available is propylthiouracil 50 mg/tablet. 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.)

Given: Total daily dose: 300 mg of propylthiouracil per day Number of doses per day: 3 doses Available tablets: 50 mg tablets Steps to solve: Determine the dose per administration: Since the daily dose is divided into three doses, each dose will be: 300 mg/day ÷ 3 doses/day = 100 mg/dose Determine the number of tablets per dose: Find how many 50 mg tablets are needed to make 100 mg of propylthiouracil. Set up a proportion to solve for the unknown number of tablets (X): 50 mg/tablet = 100 mg/X tablets Cross-multiplying gives us: 50 mg x X tablets = 100 mg x 1 tablet Simplifying: 50X = 100 Solving for X: X = 100 / 50 = 2 tablets