The healthcare provider prescribes amoxicillin 1.5 grams PO daily, in equally divided doses to be administered every 8 hours. The medication is available in a bottle labeled, "Amoxicillin suspension 200 mg/5 mL." How many mL should the nurse administer every 8 hours? (Enter numeric value only. If rounding is required, round to the nearest tenth.)

To calculate the dosage of amoxicillin suspension to be administered every 8 hours, one must first determine the total daily dosage in milligrams. Since 1 gram equals 1000 milligrams, 1.5 grams is equivalent to 1500 milligrams. This total daily dosage needs to be divided into three doses, as it will be administered every 8 hours. Therefore, each dose will be 1500 mg divided by 3, which equals 500 mg per dose. The medication bottle states that there are 200 mg of amoxicillin in every 5 mL of suspension. To find out how many mL correspond to a 500 mg dose, set up a proportion: 200 mg/5 mL = 500 mg/x mL. Solving for x gives x = (500 mg * 5 mL) / 200 mg, which equals 12.5 mL Therefore, the nurse should administer 12.5 mL of the amoxicillin suspension every 8 hours.