1. Oral Medication Labels and Dosage Calculation
Chapter 6
Oral Medication Labels and Dosage Calculation

2. Average Doses
Most oral dosages consist of half to three tablets or capsules or half to double the mL volume in liquid medications.

3. Safety Points
Question any prescriptions that require unusual number of tablets or capsules.
More than three
Be mindful of errors in prescribing, transcribing, or calculating.

4. Solid Oral Drug Preparations
Tablets
Scored tablets
Indented marking to make breaking for partial drug dosages easier and more accurate
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5. Solid Oral Drug Preparations (cont’d)
Enteric coated tablets
Delayed absorption until medication reaches small intestine
Capsules
Powdered or oily medications in gelatin cover
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6. Solid Oral Drug Preparations (cont’d)
Sustained or controlled-release capsules
Action of medication spread over prolonged period of time

7. Tablet and Capsule Labels
Unit dosage label in which each tablet or capsule is packaged separately
Most common label in clinical setting
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8. Tablet and Capsule Labels (cont’d)
Each drug has only one official name but may have several trade names, created by the companies that produce them.

9. Drug Label Information
Trade or brand name
Capitalized
Generic or official name
Lowercase
Strength in metric measure
Always has unit of measure
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10. Drug Label Information (cont’d)
Manufacturers are continuing to correct the following on drug labels:
“gr” for gram, which is being eliminated from use in health care
Inserting a space between the dosage and the unit of measure, such as “500 mg” instead of “500 mg”
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11. Drug Label Information (cont’d)
Manufacturer
Lot number
Expiration date
Must check before administering

12. Other Label Information
If drug is in a multiple dose container, number of tablets or capsules in container will be on label.
United States Pharmacopeia (USP) or National Formulary (NF) may be on multiple dose containers.

13. Caution
Learn to question orders for more than 3 tablets or capsules.

14. Liquid Oral Medications
In addition to aforementioned label information, labels for liquid oral medications state dosage strength in both:
Unit of measure
For example, mg, mcg, g, etc.
Amount of dosage strength in mL of fluid
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15. Liquid Oral Medications (cont’d)
Smaller volumes may be measured in oral or hypodermic (without needle) syringes.
Larger volumes are usually measured in calibrated medication cup:
20 mL or more

16. Multiple Drug Preparations
Preparations containing multiple drugs list name and dosage of each drug.
For example, Percocet™ contains oxycodone 5 mg and acetaminophen 325 mg
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17. Multiple Drug Preparations (cont’d)
Tablets and capsules that contain more than one drug are usually prescribed by trade name and number of tablets/capsules to be given.
For example, Percocet™ 5 mg

18. Safety Points
Some dosage strengths contain both metric and apothecary (gr) measures.
Read labels carefully.
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19. Safety Points (cont’d)
Labels will not state amount of tablets/capsules or solution contained in prescribed dose.
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20. Safety Points (cont’d)
When using calibrated medicine cup for liquid oral medications:
Pour safely at eye level.
Always read calibrations carefully.
Some contain several seldom-used units of measure.

21. Tablet/Capsule/Oral Liquid Medication Calculation
Use basic formula:
D = desired or dosage prescribed
H = have/on hand
Q = quantity
X = unknown

22. Conversions
Conversions are necessary if medication is prescribed in one unit of metric measure and available (labeled) medication is in another unit of metric measure.
Make conversions before using basic formula.