Math help from the Learning Centre

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 q3h prn pain.

• Drug name: Morphine Sulfate 
• Drug Amount: 10 mg
• Route: IM = intramuscularly
• Frequency: q3h = every three 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 PO q2h

• Drug name: Amoxicillin 
• Drug Amount: 500 mg
• Route: PO = 'orally' or 'by mouth'
• Frequency: tid = three times a day

The order is 500 mg of Amoxicillin to be taken by mouth, three times a day.

Disclaimer:

The professional standards around safe medication practices and abbreviations are updated frequently by professional oversight bodies, including the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (https://ismpcanada.ca/resources/). Please refer to your course instructors and course materials first for the correct conventions, and please contact the website creators to report any discrepancies with the page’s content.

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

Designed by Matthew Cheung. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.