What is the formula for calculating dosage?
Dosage calculation formulas
- Weight is the patients weight, expressed in kg or lb. It is very important that you input an accurate result
- Dosage is the prescribed amount of drug in mg per kg of body weight. You can usually find this number on the medicament box or on the prescription.
- Dose is the total amount of medication you need to take.
What is the correct abbreviation for antibiotic?
antibiotic: ATCC: ATCC (company) (formerly the American Type Culture Collection) ATCP: Atypical Chest Pain: ATG: anti-thymocyte globulin: ATLS: Advanced trauma life support: ATN: acute tubular necrosis: ATNR: asymmetrical tonic neck reflex: ATP: acute thrombocytopenic purpura adenosine triphosphate antitachycardia pacing: Atp: atypical ATRA: all-trans retinoic acid: ATS
What does QHS mean on a prescription?
On a prescription, QHS means to take every night at bedtime. This is an acronym for the Latin phrase quaque hora somni. Click to see full answer. Correspondingly, what does Qhs mean? Medicine. q.h.s. or qhs, Latin for "every night at bedtime", an abbreviation used in medical prescriptions.
What is the dosage of Medicine?
Researchers at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) and Pulmobiotics S.L have created the first ‘living medicine’ to treat antibiotic ... causing undesired side effects. The authors of the study hypothesised that introducing living organisms that ...
What is a full dosage regimen?
The full dosage regimen includes the dose, frequency, duration, and route of administration of the drug to be administered. When writing out a dose, DO NOT use a trailing zero and DO use a leading zero.
Why should drug names, dosage units, and directions for use be written clearly?
All drug names, dosage units, and directions for use should be written clearly to avoid misinterpretation. Pharmacists should be included in teams that develop or evaluate EMRs and e-prescribing tools.
How to record prescriptions?
What Can You Do As a Patient? 1 Ask your doctor how you are supposed to take your medication before you leave the office, and write it down for future reference. 2 Consider taking a trusted family member or friend to your medical appointments to help you to record important instructions. 3 If you receive a prescription with unusual, unexpected or confusing directions, be sure to double check with your doctor. 4 FDA encourages all healthcare providers, patients and consumers to report medication errors to the FDA Medwatch Program. The FDA is then aware of potential problems and can provide effective interventions that will minimize further errors. Timely prevention of medical errors can save a patient’s life.
What is a trailing zero on a medication order?
Trailing zeros on medication orders. Numbers can also be misinterpreted with regards to decimal points. As noted in the Joint Commission's Do Not Use List, a trailing zero (for example, "5.0" mg, where the zero follows a decimal point) can be misinterpreted as “50” mg leading to a 10-fold overdose.
What is the abbreviation for methotrexate?
As reported by the FDA, a prescription with the abbreviation “MTX ” has been interpreted as both methotrexate (used for rheumatoid arthritis) or mitoxantrone (a cancer drug), and “ATX” was misunderstood to be the shorthand for zidovudine (AZT, an HIV drug) or azathioprine (an immunosuppressant drug). These types of errors can be linked with severe patient harm.
Is a leading zero a 0.9 mg?
Also, the lack of a leading zero, (for example, .9 mg) can be misread as “9” mg; instead the prescriber should use “0.9 mg” to clarify the strength . The Joint Commission notes an exception to the Trailing Zero warning.
Is electronic prescriptions a medical error?
However, discrepancies in electronic prescriptions are common and can lead to medical errors and possible patient harm.
What does frequency mean in nursing?
Frequencies refer to the amount of times something should be completed or administered. For example, frequency abbreviations in nursing can be used to describe how often a patient needs to take a medication like in the am or pm, q4hr, AC, PC, or BID etc.
How often is Q2HR given?
Q2HR or q2h (every 2 hours), Q4HR or q4h (every 4 hours), Q6HR or q6h (every 6 hours), Q2-4HR (every 2-4 hours), etc. q15min (every 15 minutes), q30min (every 30 minutes), etc. example: an oral medication order may say that the patient can have a certain medication as needed (PRN) for pain q4hr etc.
How often do nurses draw Q6h?
For instance, the physician may order them to be drawn q6h, which means every 6 hours. However, it’s important to remember that when using abbreviations with documenting or taking orders, that the nurse uses approved abbreviations set by the employer.
Don’T Computers Solve The Problem with Abbreviations?
- Some of the typed or computer-generated abbreviations, prescription symbols, and dose designations can still be confusing and lead to mistakes in drug dosing or timing. In addition, when these abbreviations are unclear, extra time must be spent by pharmacists or other healthcare providers trying to clarify their meanings, which can delay much-neede...
Drug Name Abbreviations
- Drug names may often be abbreviated, too. For example, complicated treatment regimens, like cancer treatment protocols or combination HIV regimens, may be written with drug name abbreviations. As reported by the FDA, a prescription with the abbreviation “MTX” has been interpreted as both methotrexate (used for rheumatoid arthritis) or mitoxantrone (a cancer drug)…
Confusing Numbers
- Numbers can lead to confusion and drug dosing errors, too. 1. As an example, a prescription for “furosemide 40 mg Q.D.” (40 mg daily) was misinterpreted as “QID” (40 mg four times a day), leading to a serious medical error. 2. Another example has to do with drug dosage units: doses in micrograms should always have the unit spelled out, because the abbreviation “µg” (micrograms…
Modified-Release Technology
- Common abbreviations are often used for modified-release types of technology for prescription drugs, although no true standard exists for this terminology. 1. Many drugs exist in special formulation as tablets or capsules -- for example as ER, XR, and SR -- to slow absorption or alter where the dissolution and absorption occurs in the gastrointestinal tract. 2. Timed-release techn…
Ways For Health Care Providers to Avoid Medication Errors
- Completely write out (or select electronically) the prescription, including the drug name and dosage regimen. The full dosage regimen includes the dose, frequency, duration, and route of administra...
- When writing out a dose, DO NOT use a trailing zero and DO use a leading zero.
- For veterinarians, when calling in or writing out a human drug prescription for an animal, verb…
- Completely write out (or select electronically) the prescription, including the drug name and dosage regimen. The full dosage regimen includes the dose, frequency, duration, and route of administra...
- When writing out a dose, DO NOT use a trailing zero and DO use a leading zero.
- For veterinarians, when calling in or writing out a human drug prescription for an animal, verbally state or write out the entire prescription because some pharmacists may be unfamiliar with veteri...
- Use a computerized prescription system and electronic delivery of prescriptions to minimize misinterpretation of handwriting.
What Can You Do as A Patient?
- Ask your doctor how you are supposed to take your medication before you leave the office, and write it down for future reference.
- Consider taking a trusted family member or friend to your medical appointments to help you to record important instructions.
- If you receive a prescription with unusual, unexpected or confusing directions, be sure to dou…
- Ask your doctor how you are supposed to take your medication before you leave the office, and write it down for future reference.
- Consider taking a trusted family member or friend to your medical appointments to help you to record important instructions.
- If you receive a prescription with unusual, unexpected or confusing directions, be sure to double check with your doctor.
- FDA encourages all healthcare providers, patients and consumers to report medication errors to the FDA Medwatch Program. The FDA is then aware of potential problems and can provide effective interv...
Table 1: Common Medical Abbreviations
- Note: This is not a complete list of medical abbreviations or error-prone abbreviations. Always speak with your healthcare provider for any questions related to medical abbreviations or terms.
See Also
Further Information
- Always consult your healthcare provider to ensure the information displayed on this page applies to your personal circumstances. Medical Disclaimer