Parts of Prescription and its proper handling

Prescription

Prescription is a written order from a registered medical practitioner, or other properly licensed practitioners, such as physician, dentist, veterinarian etc. to a pharmacist to compound and dispense a specific medication for the patient.

Parts of prescription

1. Date: It helps a pharmacist to find out the date of prescribing and date of presentation for filling the prescription. The prescription which prescribe narcotic or other habit forming drugs, must bear the date, so as to avoid the misuse of prescription if it is presented by the patient, a number of times for dispensing.
2. Name, age, sex and address of the patient: Name, age, sex and address of the patient must be written in the prescription because it serves to identify the prescription. In case, if any of these information is missing in the prescription, the same may be included by the pharmacist after proper enquiry from the patient. Age and sex of the patient, especially in case of children, help the pharmacist to check the prescribed dose of medication.
3. Superscription: It is represented by a symbol Rx which is written the prescription. Rx is an abbreviation of the Latin word recipe, meaning 'You take' (Take thou). In olden days, the symbol was. considered to be originated from the sign of Jupiter, God of healing. This symbol was employed by the ancient in requesting God for the quick recovery of the patient.
4. Inscription: This is the main part of the prescription order, contains the names and quantities of the prescribed ingredients. The names of ingredients are generally written in English language but common abbreviation used can be written both in English and Latin languages.
5. Subscription: This comprises direction to the pharmacist for preparing the prescription and number of doses to be dispensed.
6. Signatura: This consists of the direction to be given to the patient regarding the administration of the drug. It is usually written as 'Sig' on the prescription.
7. Renewal instructions: The prescriber indicate on every prescription order, whether it may be renewed and if so, how many times.
8. Signature, address and registration number of the prescriber: The prescription must bear the signature of the prescriber along with its registration number and address. It is very important particularly in the prescription containing the narcotic and other habit forming drugs, to prevent its misuse.

Proper Handling of Prescription

The following procedure should be adopted by the pharmacist while handling the prescription for compounding and dispensing:

1. Receiving
2. Reading and checking
3. Collecting and weighing the materials
4. Compounding, labelling and packaging.