Final answer:
The medical assistant must dispense 5 tablets of 1 mg Xanax to comply with the prescription order of 0.5 mg taken three times a day for three days, because each 1 mg tablet can be scored to provide the required 0.5 mg doses.
Step-by-step explanation:
The medical assistant needs to calculate the number of 0.5 mg alprazolam (Xanax) tablets to dispense when only 1 mg scored tablets are available. The physician's order reads "Xanax 0.5mg po tid X 3 days." Here 'po' means by mouth, 'tid' means three times a day, and 'X 3 days' means for three days. Since 1 mg tablets are scored, they can be divided into two equal doses of 0.5 mg.
For one day, the patient requires:
- 0.5 mg Xanax three times (tid), which equals 1.5 mg total per day.
Given that the patient needs 1.5 mg per day and the available tablets are 1 mg, the medical assistant will need to administer one half (1/2) of a 1 mg tablet three times a day to equal the 1.5 mg total daily dosage. Therefore:
- 1/2 tablet x 3 times a day = 1.5 tablets per day
For three days, the calculation is:
- 1.5 tablets/day x 3 days = 4.5 tablets total for the entire three days
Since half tablets are used, the medical assistant will need to provide 5 tablets because you cannot dispense half of a tablet. Therefore, they will write '5 tablets' on the dispense line.