In the Pharmacy Dosages and Prescriptions Essentials course, students will learn the language of medicine, using pharmacy nomenclature and the skills necessary to measure different types of prescriptions through four lessons. This includes understanding the dosage calculation methods, mathematical conversions, and formulas most commonly used within the pharmacy.
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Students will also learn how to prepare and measure tablet and capsule medications, liquid prescriptions, and other considerations, including parenteral and enteral, and insulin and syringes. It is essential to understand the patient and medication safety practices necessary for the role, such as handling and disposing of hazardous material. Additionally, this course provides insight into the various roles a pharmacy technician is expected to perform, how to properly handle these tasks, and a variety of other real-world scenarios a pharmacy technician will encounter in the pharmacy. After completion of this course, students will have a solid base knowledge of prescriptions, dosages, calculations, and the overall tasks of the role.
Course objectives include:
- Verify medication orders, calculate and measure dosage, and prepare and package medications
- Apply knowledge of pharmacology, documentation, and inventory management in the pharmacy
- Practice basic calculation methods related to pharmacy, including fractions, decimals, percentages, the metric system, ratios, and proportions
This course is part of the Pharmacy Technician Fundamentals Specialization.
What you'll learn
- Verify medication orders, calculate and measure dosage, and prepare and package medications
- Apply knowledge of pharmacology, documentation, and inventory management in the pharmacy
- Understand basic calculation methods related to pharmacy, including fractions, decimals, percentages, the metric system, ratios, and proportions
Syllabus
Module 1
Calculating the proper dosage of a medication is the primary component of administering a drug. Explore the 3 basic methods used for dosage calculation: Dimensional Analysis, Ratio and Proportion, and using Formulas, as well as various pediatric dosage calculations, and infusion calculations for flow rate, time and weight.
Module 2
In this lesson, we review filling prescriptions in a tablet and capsule form, types of tablets and capsules, filling machines, and bottles.
Module 3
This lesson discusses liquid prescriptions, solutions, solubility, suspensions, emulsions, various emulsifiers, and methods.
Module 4
The role of the Pharmacy Technician is to ultimately interpret prescriptions or review patients' charts to prepare appropriate medications. This lesson reviews those important tasks and identifies various scenarios and how to address them.
