Roman Numerals, Apothecary & Military Time
Jordan is reading an MAR (Medication Administration Record): 'Lasix 40 mg IV q12h at 0800 and 2000.' She must not confuse 2000 with 8 a.m.
- MAR printout
- 24-hr wall clock
- Sharpie for relabel
- 1
Memorize the pivot
1300 = 1 p.m. After noon, subtract 12 to get civilian time.
- 2
Pad single digits
9 a.m. = 0900, not 900. Leading zero prevents drug-time errors.
- 3
Roman numerals on old orders
iii = 3, iv = 4, vi = 6. Still used for tablet counts (e.g., 'tabs ii po qid').
- 4
Cross-check with the wall clock
If your watch reads 14:30, that's 2:30 p.m. Confirm before each med pass.
Old chart order: 'gr X q4h, start 1400.' You must translate the Roman dose (grains), convert grains → milligrams using the apothecary equivalence, schedule the q4h doses on a 24-hour clock, and document with no AM/PM ambiguity.
Tap Show next step to reveal the math one piece at a time.
Decode 'gr X'
Given: Order: gr X q4h
- 1
Translate Roman
X = 10 grains
Convert 1430 to civilian time
Given: Military time 1430
- 1
Subtract 12
14 − 12 = 2 PM