What the heck is a dram?

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I am taking a dosage calc class and part of one of our assignments is to write out abbreviations. The professor is not teaching us anything...all he is doing is going over the assigned problems.:yawn: That is ok, I'm pretty good at math - thankfully! But one of the things he wants is to know what the preferred abbreviation for 3 drams is. I swear to all of you, I don't want you to do my work for me but I have gone through 300 pages of this book and I can't find it! It was supposed to be in 2 specific chapters but apparently this problem set goes beyond that. :confused: If anyone could help me out or send me in the direction of some abbreviations that would be awesome! :clown: Thanks!!!!

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I've never heard of the term, but I think you're referring to "gram".

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

do you have a dictionary or a copy of taber's cyclopedic medical dictionary? before i give you the answer, i think it's important that you learn to find the answer first. i'll check back shortly. if you haven't found it, i'll post it for you.

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Specializes in NICU, Infection Control.

She means "dram".

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Ok, now I feel like a dork! :stone I didn't think to look in my dictionary. Sigh. I have Stedman's. So the abbreviation would be dr and 3 drams would be 3 dr? I guess I need to think "outside the text" huh? I am so used to all the answers being in the book. Reality check.

I really appreciate the guidance, and yes I would rather do the work myself so next time I don't have to ask a dumb question!

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

webster's new world dictionary of the american language, college edition, the world publishing company, 1966, page 440:

dram
- in
apothecaries weight
, a unit equal to 60 grains (1/8 ounce); in
avoirdupois weight
, a unit equal to 27 1/3 grains (1/16 ounce); 1/128 pint; a small amount of anything; a small drink of alcoholic liquor.

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Yes, I had never heard of a dram either. Now, on the same note, you might want to look up what a minim is.....:wink2:

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You are right the abbreviation is 3 dr, and thanks to Daytonite for pointing out where to look if it isn't in your book. Luckily my dosage calculation book has the abbreviations, and much more to boggle the mind. GTTS anyone?

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You are right the abbreviation is 3 dr, and thanks to Daytonite for pointing out where to look if it isn't in your book. Luckily my dosage calculation book has the abbreviations, and much more to boggle the mind. GTTS anyone?

drops

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Specializes in NICU, Infection Control.

dram03.gif

This is the symbol we used to write. It looked a little more like a script lower case "z". If you extended the tail of the "z" further, you could write i, ii, iii, iv, v as i,2,3,4,5 drams.

ounce.gif

This is the symbol for "ounce". We used the same system to indicate how many ounces.

I really did actually use these things once upon a time. And the "gtts", too.

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