Final answer:
To administer the prescribed 15 mg of prednisone with 5 mg tablets in stock, you would divide the total needed dose by the dose per tablet, resulting in 3 tablets to be given to the patient.
Step-by-step explanation:
To determine how many tablets need to be administered when a patient has been prescribed prednisone 15 mg and the stock available is 5 mg tablets, we use basic division. Since each tablet contains 5 mg, you would need to take multiple tablets to reach the total prescribed dose of 15 mg. You divide the total dose needed (15 mg) by the dose available per tablet (5 mg) to find the number of tablets required:
15 mg ÷ 5 mg/tablet = 3 tablets
Therefore, you should administer 3 tablets of the available 5 mg prednisone to the patient to achieve the prescribed 15 mg dose.