''Pro re nata'' is a
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
phrase meaning "in the circumstances" or "as the circumstance arises" (literally "for the thing born").
[''Oxford Latin Dictionary'' s.v. nascor ~ī nātus (p. 1156)] In
medical terminology, it is often abbreviated PRN or P.R.N. and refers to the administration of prescribed medication as the situation calls for it.
Medical terminology
Generally abbreviated to "P.R.N." or "PRN", ''pro re nata'' refers to the administration of
prescribed medication whose timing is left to the
patient
A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other hea ...
(in the case of
patient-controlled analgesia
Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) is any method of allowing a person in pain to administer their own pain relief. The infusion is programmable by the prescriber. If it is programmed and functioning as intended, the machine is unlikely to deliver ...
),
nurse
Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health c ...
, or
caregiver
A caregiver or carer is a paid or unpaid member of a person's social network who helps them with activities of daily living. Since they have no specific professional training, they are often described as informal caregivers. Caregivers most commo ...
, as opposed to medication that is taken according to a fixed (primarily daily) schedule (a.k.a. "scheduled dosage"). ''Pro re nata'' does not imply that the patient may take as much of the medicine as desired, but rather that the medicine may be taken in the prescribed dosage ''if needed''. Such administration of medication is not meant to imply, and should never allow for, exceeding a maximum daily dosage. This aspect of "only if needed, and only up to some maximum" differentiates ''pro re nata'' dosages (which are common) from ''
ad libitum
In music and other performing arts, the phrase (; from Latin for 'at one's pleasure' or 'as you desire'), often shortened to "ad lib" (as an adjective or adverb) or "ad-lib" (as a verb or noun), refers to various forms of improvisation.
The ...
'' dosages (which are not common).
See also
*
List of abbreviations used in medical prescriptions
This is a list of abbreviations used in medical prescriptions, including hospital orders (the patient-directed part of which is referred to as sig codes). This list does not include abbreviations for pharmaceuticals or drug name suffixes such as C ...
References
External links
Definition of PRN– mediLexicon powered by Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Definition of PRN– Merriam-Webster Medical Dictionary online
Latin medical words and phrases
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