A PMHNP starts a 28-year-old woman on fluoxetine 20 mg daily for major depressive disorder. After 2 weeks with no improvement, the patient requests a dose increase. The PMHNP reviews fluoxetine's pharmacokinetic profile, noting its half-life of 1-3 days for the parent compound and 4-16 days for the active metabolite norfluoxetine. She considers whether the current dose has reached steady state and whether a dose increase is premature. Which of the following best describes the clinical significance of half-life and steady-state pharmacokinetics?