Okuzeka
Nursing vocabulary · Medication Administration

Medication chart

Meaning in nursing, with examples

nounCore term

In nursing, medication chart means: The form or electronic record where a patient's medicines are prescribed and where nurses sign for each dose they give or do not give.

In Turkish: tedavi kartı, ilaç kartı, tedavi orderı

How it is used

Called 'drug chart' or 'prescription chart' in the UK and MAR (medication administration record) in the US. Nurses check it on every medication round, sign for doses and use codes to explain doses not given, for example 'patient refused' or 'nil by mouth'.

Example sentences

  1. The antibiotics aren't on his medication chart yet; can you ask the doctor to prescribe them?

  2. Sign the medication chart straight after you give each dose.

Common collocations

  • sign the medication chart
  • check the medication chart
  • rewrite the medication chart
  • on the medication chart
  • medication roundThe set times of the day when a nurse takes the medicines trolley around the ward and gives patients their prescribed medicines.
  • administerTo give a medicine or treatment to a patient, by any route, according to a prescription or protocol.
  • PRNWritten on a prescription to show that a medicine is given only when needed, for example for pain or nausea, not at fixed times. It comes from Latin 'pro re nata'.
  • five rightsA checklist nurses use before giving any medicine: the right patient, the right drug, the right dose, the right route and the right time.
  • chartTo write down information about a patient, such as observations, medicines given or fluids taken, in their record or on a special form.

More terms: Medication Administration

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.