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Math help from the Learning Centre

This guide provides useful resources for a wide variety of math topics. It is targeted at students enrolled in a math course or any other Centennial course that requires math knowledge and skills.

Reading Drug Orders

There are a lot of shorthand notations to know for drug orders. These abbreviations are used to simplify frequencies, dosages, routes, and more. Abbreviations may be very similar but have very different meanings. For example, 'q.d.' (every day) compared to 'q.o.d' (every other day). Here are lists of common abbreviations.

Examples:

1. Morphine Sulfate 10 mg IM q.4.h. p.r.n. pain.

  • Drug name: Morphine Sulfate 
  • Drug Amount: 10 mg
  • Route: IM = intramuscularly
  • Frequency: q.4.h. = every four hours, as needed for pain

The order is 10 mg of Morphine Sulfate given intramuscularly, every four hours as needed for pain.

2. Amoxicillin 500 mg p.o. q.8.h.

  • Drug name: Amoxicillin 
  • Drug Amount: 500 mg
  • Route: p.o. = 'orally' or 'by mouth'
  • Frequency: q.8.h. = every eight hours

The order is 500 mg of Amoxicillin to be taken by mouth, every eight hours.

3. Albuterol 2.5 mg INH t.i.d.-q.i.d.

  • Drug name: Albuterol
  • Drug Amount: 2.5 mg
  • Route: I.N.H. = inhalation
  • Frequency: t.i.d.-q.i.d.. = three to four times a day

The order is 2.5 mg of Albuterol, inhaled, three to four times a day.

Drug Labels

  1. Trade name: Primaxin
  2. Generic name: Imipenem and cilastin solution
  3. Drug Identification Number (DIN): 00717282
  4. Form of the drug: IV infusion
  5. Dosage strength:  500 mg
  6. Standard adult dosage: 1 to 2 g daily
  7. Storage: at \(15^{\circ}C\) to \( 30^{\circ}C\) at room temperature, or refrigerated \(2^{\circ}C\) to \( 8^{\circ}C\)
  8. Expiry: 4 hours at room temperature, 24 hours refrigerated
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Designed by Matthew Cheung. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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