''Pro re nata'' is a
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
phrase meaning "in the circumstances" or "as the circumstance arises" (literally "for the thing born"). In
medical terminology
Medical terminology is a language used to precisely describe the human body including all its components, processes, conditions affecting it, and procedures performed upon it. Medical terminology is used in the field of medicine.
Medical terminolo ...
, 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 Health professional, healthcare professionals. The patient is most often Disease, ill or Major trauma, injured and in need of therapy, treatment by a physician, nurse, op ...
(in the case of
patient-controlled analgesia),
nurse
Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...
, or
caregiver
A caregiver, carer or support worker is a paid or unpaid person who helps an individual with activities of daily living. Caregivers who are members of a care recipient's family or social network, who may have specific professional training, are o ...
, 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 (; 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 roughly synonymous phrase ('in acc ...
'' dosages (which are not common).
Nursing
PRN can also refer to
nurse
Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...
s who work on an as-needed basis rather than on a regular schedule. Nurses working on this basis are called ''PRN nurses''.
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 ...
*
Treat and extend
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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