Reading Prescription Abbreviations

Abbreviations Used in Medication Orders

A prescription contains handwritten instructions for the dispensing and administering of medications. It can be more than an order for drugs as it can also include instructions for a therapist, the patient, nurse, caretaker, or pharmacist. The use of prescriptions has developed into orders for lab tests, X-rays, and other assessments. Prescriptions have four sections: the superscription, the inscription, the subscription and the signature.

The superscription is the heading and contains the date and the patient’s name, address, sometimes age, etc. Between the superscription and the inscription is the symbol Rx. Rx stands for “recipe” which in Latin means “to take.”

The inscription contains the information about the medication. It has the name of the ingredients and the amount needed. It includes the main ingredient, anything that helps in the action of the drug, something to modify the effects of the main drug, and the “vehicle” which makes the medicine more pleasant to take.

The subscription section tells the pharmacist how to dispense the drug. This will have instructions on compounding the drug and the amount needed.

The signature has the directions that are to be printed on the medicine. The word “sig” means “write on label.”

Prescriptions vary from state to state and doctor to doctor. Sometimes the doctor will write “dispense as written,” “do not substitute,” or “medically necessary.” Sometimes the age of the child is required and often the doctor will put the condition that is being treated. There is also sometimes a label box. If the doctor checks this, the pharmacist labels the medicine; if not, he only puts the instructions for taking it.

Why Are Prescriptions in Latin?

The symbol Rx has its origin either with the Eye of Horus or Jupiter. People would ask for protection from both of these gods. The word “prescription” comes from the Latin word "praescriptus.".It has the prefix “pre” which means “before” and “script” which means “writing” so a prescription has to be written before a drug is compounded.

Historically, prescriptions were written in Latin and are still written that way today. You may wonder why we continue to do this. There are several reasons and here are a couple of them. One, Latin is more concise than other languages. Secondly, is makes prescriptions able to be written and filled worldwide, since physicians all over the world know the Latin names for drugs and the instructions needed. Following are some common prescription abbreviations.