EQUIPMENT USED IN

DRUG MEASUREMENT
By: Princess Joan Cristy Lendio
ORAL UTENSILS
Medicine Cups
◦ A cup shaped item with slightly
sloping sides and with dosage
graduations.
◦ To provide a sterile and safe way to
distribute medication to patients.
Calibrated Droppers
◦ are often used to deliver small doses of liquid
medication, 1 ml or less, to the patient.
◦ The size of a drop of any liquid will vary not
only with differences in the construction and
composition of the dropper, but also with the
viscosity, surface tension, and density of the
liquid.
NOTE:
To be safe, never exchange packaged droppers between
medications because drop size varies from one dropper to
another.
Medicine Spoon
◦ A spoon for administering medicine,
specifically (now chiefly historical) a
spoon with a covered bowl and small
aperture, designed for giving medicines
to children or mentally disturbed patients
without spillage.
Oral Syringe
◦ is a measuring instrument used to
accurately measure doses of liquid
medicine which are expressed in
millilitres (mL).
◦ They do not have threaded tips, because
no needle or other device needs to be
screwed onto them.
Parenteral Devices
Syringes
◦ The word "syringe" is derived from the Greek
“syrinx” meaning "tube“
◦ Are made of plastic or glass, designed for one-time
use, and are packaged either separately or together
with needles of appropriate sizes.
◦ Used to administer drugs when a small amount of
fluid is to be injected; when a person cannot take the
drug by mouth; or when the drug would be destroyed
by digestive secretions.
◦ After use, syringes must be discarded in special
puncture-resistant containers.
 Parts of Syringe
A syringe consists of a barrel, plunger, and tip.
■ Barrel: a hollow cylinder that holds the
medication. It has calibrations (markings) on the
outer surface.
■ Plunger: fits in the barrel and is moved back
and forth. Pulling back on the plunger draws
medication or air into the syringe. Pushing in the
plunger forces air or medication out of the
syringe.
■ Tip: the end of the syringe that holds the
needle. The needle slips onto the tip or can be
twisted and locked in place.
Needles are made of stainless steel and come in
various lengths and diameters. They are packaged
with a protective cover that keeps them from being
contaminated.

The parts of a needle

◦ Hub which attaches to the syringe,
◦ Shaft the long part of the needle that is embedded in
the hub
◦ Bevel the slanted portion of the tip. The length of
the needle is the distance
 2 Major types of Syringe
Hypodermic Syringes Oral Syringes
◦ a syringe with a needle that was fine enough to ◦ is used to dispense liquid medicine into the
pierce the skin. mouth.
◦ The smaller capacity syringes (1, 2 and 3 ◦ most often used to administer liquid medicine
mL) are used most often for subcutaneous or to babies, children and pets.
intramuscular injections of medication. ◦ An oral syringe contains and directs liquid
◦ The larger sizes (5, 6, 10, and 12 mL) are medicine much better than a spoon.
commonly used to draw blood or prepare
medications for intravenous administration.
◦ Syringes 20 mL and larger are used to inject
large volumes of sterile solutions.
 Insulin Syringes
◦ Insulin syringes are used for the subcutaneous injection of
insulin and are calibrated in units rather than milliliters.
◦ Insulin is a hormone used to treat patients who have insulin-
dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM).

Insulin syringes are available in a number of needles lengths:

◦ A short length of needle would be less than 10mm
◦ A longer length of needle would be over 10mm long
 Varieties of Insulin Syringe
Standard U-100 Insulin Syringe 50 units Lo-dose U-100 insulin syringe
◦ U-100 indicates the concentration of your ◦ Is a single-scale syringe with 50 units.
insulin. U-100 means there are 100 units of ◦ It is calibrated in 1 unit increments.
insulin in every 1 mL.
◦ U100-concentrated insulin has 100 units per
ml of liquid, and should be used with U100
syringes.

NOTE:
Lo-Dose Insulin Syringe are used for measuring small amounts of insulin. They
have a capacity of 50 units or 30 units
 Varieties of Insulin Syringe
30 units Lo-dose U-100 insulin syringe

◦ Commonly used for pediatric

◦ Is a syringe with 30 units.
◦ It is calibrated in 1 unit increments and is
used when the dose is less than 30 units.
 Prefilled Syringe
◦ Contains the usual dose of a medication.
◦ Some prefilled glass cartridges are available
for use with a special plunger called a Tubex
or Carpuject syringe
◦ If a medication order is for the exact amount
of drug in the prefilled syringe, the
possibility of measurement error by the
person administering the drug is decreased.
◦ Are ready to be used only once.
 Special Safety Syringe
◦ Are protected by shields to prevent
accidental needle stick injury to the
nurse after administering an injectable
medication.
◦ To reduce the risk of transmission of
blood borne diseases from accidental
needle sticks