1. Prescription or medication orders.
Lecturer: Dr. Asmaa abdelaziz, Ph.D
Department of pharamcay
Ibn Hayyan University college

2. Prescription drugs& Non-prescription
Drugs are divided into:
Prescription drugs
Non-prescription drugs.
The prescription drugs
Which are those that should not be dispensed without a prescription
The non-prescription drugs,
Which also called over the counter (OTC), are defined as the drugs that may be sold without a prescription 2

3. Prescription
A prescription is defined as an order for medication from a doctor, dentist or veterinarian.
A prescription starts with the traditional symbol 𝑹𝒙 (meaning ‘‘take) 3

4. Categories of Prescriptions
It is important to recognize two categories of prescriptions:
1. Those written for a single component or prefabricated product and not requiring compounding by the pharmacist.
2. Those written for more than a single component and requiring compounding. 4

5. Examples of Prescription
Prescription calling for trade name
Hospital prescription
Prescription for generic
Compounding Prescription 5

6. PRESCRIPTION CALLING FOR TRADE NAME
Figure 1: Components of a typical prescription. The labels are as follows: (1)Prescriber information and signature (2) Patient information (3) Date (4) 𝑹𝒙 symbol (5) Medication prescribed (6) Dispensing instructions to the pharmacist (7) Directions to the patient (8) Special instructions 6

7. HOSPITAL PRESCRIPTION
Figure 2: Typical hospital medication order. 7

8. PRESCRIPTION FOR GENERIC8

9. COMPOUNDING PRESCRITIPN9

10. Prescription Accuracy
It is the responsibility of the pharmacist to ensure that each medication should be:
1. Suitable for the patient
2. Prescribed at the correct dose.
3. Dispensed in the correct strength and dosage form.
4. Correctly labeled with complete instructions for the patient.
5. For the patient in a hospital, each medication must be administered to the correct patient, at the correct time, and by the correct rate and route of administration.  10

11. Use of Abbreviations and Symbols
Meaning Ad
up to
D.W
distilled water
q.s
sufficient quantity
Sig.
write (directions on labile)
tbsp.
tablespoonful
tsp.
teaspoonful
b.i.d
twice a day
t.i.d
three times a day
q.i.d
four times a day
amp.
ampoule
cap.
capsule
inj.
injection

12. Cont. Use of Abbreviations and Symbols
oint.
ointment
sol.
solution
supp.
suppository
susp.
suspension
syr.
syrup
tab.
tablet IM
intramuscular IV
intravenous
S.Q.
subcutaneous

13. Recommendations:
Among the recommendations to help reduce the medication errors arising from poorly written or misinterpreted prescriptions are the followings:
* Leave a space between the number and the unit (e.g., 10 mg and not 10mg).
* Use the full names of drugs and not abbreviations (e.g., use aspirin and not asp.)
* Spell out ‘‘units’’ (e.g., use 100 units and not 100 U since an illegible U may be misread as a zero, resulting in a 10-fold error, i.e., 1000). The abbreviation I.U., which is used for ‘‘International Units’’ should also be spelled out so it is not interpreted as I.V., meaning ‘‘intravenous.’’

14. References
1- Ansel C. Howard and Stoklosa J. Mitchell in “Pharmaceutical Calculations”, 12 ed., Lippincott, 2013

15. Thank you