The physician orders Ampicillin 500mg by mouth every 6 hours daily. Which of the following describes this order?

A. 6/10 mg.: Writing 6/10 mg is not an accepted or safe dosage notation because it increases the risk of misinterpretation and medication error. Dosages should always be written using decimals rather than fractions to ensure clarity and accuracy in administration.

B. 0.60 mg.: Although this value is numerically equivalent to 0.6 mg, it is unsafe to include a trailing zero after the decimal point. The extra zero could be misread as 60 mg, leading to a dangerous overdose. Standard medication safety guidelines prohibit the use of trailing zeros.

C. 0.6 mg.: This is the correctly written dosage because it uses a leading zero before the decimal point and omits any trailing zeros. This format minimizes the risk of dosage errors and aligns with safe medication administration practices endorsed by The Joint Commission.

D. 6 mg.: This dose would be excessively high for nitroglycerin, as therapeutic oral doses typically range between 0.3 to 0.6 mg. Administering 6 mg could cause severe hypotension, dizziness, or syncope due to excessive vasodilation.

A. Demerol (meperidine HCL) 50 mg, IM, prior to surgery.: This order specifies administration before surgery, which serves as its clear endpoint. It is a single preoperative dose and therefore has a defined termination point.

B. Mevacor (lovastatin) 10 mg, po, every 12 hours for 7 days.: The inclusion of “for 7 days” provides a definite duration, meaning the order will automatically terminate after the specified treatment period ends.

C. Lasix (furosemide) 40 mg, IV, STAT.: A STAT order is intended for immediate, one-time administration, so it has an inherent termination after that single dose is given.

D. Motrin (ibuprofen) 400 mg, po, daily.: This order does not specify a stop date or duration of therapy, meaning it would continue indefinitely until changed or discontinued by the provider. It is therefore written without a termination.