A prescription is written for tablets of a drug to be taken b.i.d. for 10 days. How many tablets should be dispensed?

To calculate the total number of tablets needed for a prescription taken b.i.d. (twice a day) for 10 days, first determine the daily intake. Since the medication is taken twice daily, that translates to 2 tablets per day.

Next, multiply the daily dose by the number of days the medication is to be taken:

2 tablets/day × 10 days = 20 tablets.

Now, evaluating the choices, it appears there is a need to revisit the calculations.

The correct total should reflect that you actually need to calculate how many doses will be taken over the entire 10 days. Given that each day requires 2 tablets, for a full 10-day period, you indeed actually arrive at 20 tablets, and that would match with the reasoning for the other choices leading towards understanding dispensing quantity accurately in a pharmacy context.

Thus, the total number of tablets required for the prescription over the course of 10 days is 20 tablets.