PRESCRIPTION WRITING RULES
These three essential prescription elements identify the patient and prevents medication errors.
What is NAME, DATE OF BIRTH, and ADDRESS?
This class of antibiotics works by inhibiting bacterial cell wall synthesis.
What are beta-lactams?
This population has immature hepatic enzymes and renal function, affecting drug metabolism and excretion.
Who are neonates or infants?
In order for a drug to have its effect, this must occur.
What is attach to a receptor.
This pharmacokinetic phase describes how a drug moves from the site of administration into the bloodstream.
What is absorption?
Federal law requires this information for all controlled substance prescriptions.
What is the prescriber's DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) number?
This enzyme produced by bacteria can inactivate many beta-lactam antibiotics.
What is beta-lactamase?
This physiologic change in older adults often increases the half-life of lipid-soluble drugs.
What is increased body fat?
This type of antagonist can be overcome with higher concentrations of an agonist.
What is a competitive antagonist?
This is the amount of time required to reduce the drug concentration in the blood by 50%.
What is half-life (T1/2)?
This part of the prescription specifies how often and by what route a medication should be taken.
What are the directions?
This is a structural component common to penicillins, cephalosporins, carbapenems, and monobactams.
What is a beta-lactam ring?
This population often requires weight-based dosing due to differences in body composition and organ maturation.
Who are pediatric patients?
This is the measure of a drug's safety.
What is the therapeutic index?
This pharmacokinetic measure reflects the efficiency of drug removal from the body and is a key determinant of maintenance dosing.
What is clearance?
A prescription written to day but will not be filled until a month from now is designated in this way.
What is indicating the date the prescription is written and a second date indicating when the prescription can be filled?
This antibacterial drug kills bacteria rather than simply inhibiting growth.
What is a bactericidal drug?
Reduced creatinine clearance in this population increases the risk of drug accumulation and toxicity.
Who are older (geriatric) patients.
A drug that binds to a receptor but produces no intrinsic activity is classified as this.
What is an antagonist (or blocker).
This typically occurs after approximately four to five times the drug's half-life.
What is plateau or steady state?
Writing “0.5 mg” instead of “.5 mg” is an example of applying this safety principle.
What is using a leading zero?
This adverse reaction to penicillin is IgE-mediated and may be life-threatening.
What is anaphylaxis?
This pharmacokinetic change during pregnancy can lower serum drug concentrations of some medications.
What is increased renal clearance?
This phenomenon occurs when repeated exposure to a drug results in a decreased response over time.
What is tolerance?
This occurs when medication is absorbed from the gut, is transported to the liver, transformed, and moves into the bloodstream.
What is the "first pass" phenomenon?