For a prescription of potassium chloride 15 mEq by mouth with a label of 20 mEq/15 mL, how many milliliters should the nurse prepare?

To determine how many milliliters of potassium chloride the nurse should prepare, you need to first understand the concentration of the solution and how it relates to the prescribed dose. The label indicates that there are 20 mEq of potassium chloride in 15 mL of solution.

To find out how many milliliters correspond to the 15 mEq that has been prescribed, you can set up a proportion based on the concentration:

1. Determine the milliequivalents per milliliter based on the concentration provided:

   • 20 mEq is contained in 15 mL.
   • Therefore, the concentration is ( \frac{20 \text{ mEq}}{15 \text{ mL}} ), which can also be expressed as ( \frac{4 \text{ mEq}}{3 \text{ mL}} ).

2. Now, calculate the mL needed to achieve 15 mEq:

   • Using the proportion ( \frac{20 \text{ mEq}}{15 \text{ mL}} = \frac{15 \text{ mEq}}{x \text{ mL}} ), we can cross-multiply to find ( x ):
   • (