3-10. UNIT DOSE
a. Guideline. Count each medication dose filled for inpatients at each filling of a
patient's drawer or the preparation of stat doses with a count of 0.15.
b. Interpretation. A UCA weighted count of 0.15 is given for each dose or unit
of issue dispensed. A unit of issue containing multiple doses, such as an ear/eye drop
or an inhaler, has a total UCA value of 0.15. Four antibiotic capsules which are to be
dispensed one every 6 hours has a UCA value of 4 x 0.15 = 0.6. Each dose generates
a UCA value of 0.15 regardless of the number of units in that dose; that is, 200-mg dose
of Aminophylline made up of two 100-mg tablets generates a UCA value of 0.15. I.V.
orders or controlled substances ordered for the patient are not counted in the unit dose
UCA counts. The sterile products section or bulk issue section will count the items in
their UCA counts. They are not counted twice. Interpretative examples are provided in
figures 3-14 and 3-15.
c. Examples: Unit Dose Medication Card Orders. Examples with calculations
are given below.
(1) A prepared BAMC Form 438 NS, Medication Profile Card, with UCA
calculation for a patient is shown in figure 3-14. Each dose of Aminophylline is made
up of two tablets. Forty tablets are dispensed, which represents twenty doses. The
twenty doses of Ampicillin represent a standard unit dose order count. The "Metraprel"
and "Monistat-7" represent units of issue containing multiple doses; however, each
container has a total UCA value of 0.15. The Ampicillin syringe is a sterile product
prepared by the pharmacy. (It may be reported by either the sterile product section or
the unit dose section of the pharmacy, but not by both.)
MD0812
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