A nurse is preparing to administer quinine 25 mg/kg/day PO divided in equal doses every 8 hr to a school-age child who weighs 36 lb. Available is quinine 325 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.)

To calculate the dosage of quinine for the child, first convert the child's weight from pounds to kilograms, knowing that 1 kilogram equals 2.2 pounds. The child weighs 36 pounds, which is approximately 16.36 kilograms (36/2.2). Next, calculate the total daily dose of quinine using the child's weight in kilograms: 25 mg/kg/day * 16.36 kg = 409 mg/day. Since the dose is divided into equal doses every 8 hours, divide the total daily dose by 3 to get the per dose amount: 409 mg/day / 3 doses/day = approximately 136.33 mg/dose. Finally, to find out how many 325 mg tablets the nurse should administer per dose, divide the per dose amount by the strength of the tablet: 136.33 mg/dose / 325 mg/tablet = approximately 0.42. Round to the nearest whole number 0.42≈0