Objectives:

Chapter 5

Identify common abbreviations and symbols used for medication orders
Interpret medication orders correctly
Compare and contrast the three systems of measurement
Convert dosages from one system to another by use of tables for metric and household equivalents
List the six parts of a medication order and the two additional items required on a prescription blank
Describe the responsibility of a health care provider regarding verbal and telephone order for medication

Ever wonder what all the scribbles mean on a prescription?
In chapter 5, we will be learning how to read medication labels and medical abbreviations. We will also look at the problems that can happen when healthcare professionals use incorrect abbreviations or abbreviations that are error prone. This chapter explains the different parts of a medical prescription and what is required for a prescription to be legally valid. We will also look at the systems of measurements that are commonly used in the healthcare setting.

In ye olden times, prescriptions were actually drug recipes that apothecaries used to made medications. They were written using the apothecary system of measurement. Below is an example of one such prescription. Can you imagine having to prepare this prescription for a patient?

The left side shows the actual prescription recipe and the right side shows its translation.

Even in the Household System, also known as the Customary System, there are units of measure that you might not have heard about and some that sound pretty strange. You have probably heard of a barrel, but did you know that a barrel is actual a unit of measure for wooden casks? And that these casks come in different sizes other than barrel size? Ever heard of a Hogshead?

These are some of the barrel sizes used in the Customary System. A Hogshead holds roughly twice the volume of a regular barrel. Pretty strange sounding name for a barrel size, isn’t it? These types of barrel sizes were common in British and American colonial times and were used to transport solid items like tobacco as well as store liquids likes whiskey, wine, and beer.

Now if only we had a Hogshead of Butterbeer...

Read This Read Chapter 5 Abbreviations and Systems of Measurement.