Say It in English

The following examples illustrate how to read and interpret a wide range of drug orders.

Drug order Interpretation Colace 100 mg P.O. b.i.d. p.c. Give 100 mg of Colace by mouth twice per day after meals. Vistaril 25 mg I.M. q3h p.r.n. anxiety Give 25 mg of Vistaril intramuscularly every 3 hours as needed for anxiety. Increase Duramorph to 6 mg I.V. q8h Increase Duramorph to 6 mg intravenously every 8 hours. Folic acid 1 mg P.O. daily Give 1 mg of folic acid by mouth daily. Minipress 4 mg P.O. q6h, hold for sys BP less than 120 Give 4 mg of Minipress by mouth every 6 hours; withhold the drug if the systolic blood pressure falls below 120 mm Hg. Nifedipine 30 mg S.L. q4h Give 30 mg of nifedipine sublingually every 4 hours. Begin aspirin 325 mg P.O. daily Begin giving 325 mg of aspirin by mouth daily. Persantine 75 mg P.O.t.i.d. Give 75 mg of Persantine by mouth three times per day. Aspirin grains v P.O. t.i.d. Give 5 grains of aspirin by mouth three times per day. Vasotec 2.5 mg P.O. daily Give 2.5 mg of Vasotec by mouth daily. 1,000 mL D5WKCl 20 mEq I.V. at 100 mL/hr Give 1,000 mL of dextrose 5% in water with 20 milliequivalents of potassium chloride intravenously at a rate of 100 milliliters per hour. Discontinue penicillin I.V., start penicillin G 800,000 units P.O. q6h Discontinue intravenous penicillin; start 800,000 units of penicillin G by mouth every 6 hours. Diphenhydramine 25–50 mg P.O. at bedtime p.r.n. insomnia Give 25 to 50 mg of diphenhydramine by mouth at bedtime as needed for insomnia.