Editing Medication (section)

== Administration == <!--Drug administration redirects here-->
{{Main |Route of administration}}
[[File:Drawing_by_Marguerite_Martyn_of_a_visiting_nurse_with_medicine_and_four_babies,_1918.jpg|thumb|February 1918 drawing by [[Marguerite Martyn]] of a visiting nurse in St. Louis, Missouri, with medicine and babies]]

A single drug may contain single or multiple [[active ingredient]]s.

The administration is the process by which a patient takes medicine. There are three major categories of drug administration: [[enteral]] (via the [[human gastrointestinal tract]]), [[Injection (medicine)|injection]] into the body, and by other routes ([[Dermis|dermal]], [[Nasal administration|nasal]], [[Ophthalmic drug administration|ophthalmic]], [[Ear|otologic]], and [[Genitourinary system|urogenital]]).<ref>{{Cite book | last1=Finkel | first1=Richard | last2=Cubeddu | first2=Luigi | last3=Clark | first3=Michelle | year=2009 | title=Lippencott's Illustrated Reviews: Pharmacology 4th Edition | publisher=Lippencott Williams & Wilkins | pages=1–4 | isbn=978-0-7817-7155-9}}</ref>

[[Oral administration]], the most common form of enteral administration, can be performed using various [[dosage forms]] including [[Tablet (pharmacy)|tablets]] or [[capsule (pharmacy)|capsules]] and liquid such as syrup or suspension. Other ways to take the medication include [[buccal administration|buccally]] (placed inside the cheek), [[Sublingual administration|sublingually]] (placed underneath the tongue), eye and [[ear drop]]s (dropped into the eye or ear), and transdermally (applied to the skin).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Zaid Alkilani |first1=Ahlam |last2=McCrudden |first2=Maelíosa T.C. |last3=Donnelly |first3=Ryan F. |date=22 October 2015 |title=Transdermal Drug Delivery: Innovative Pharmaceutical Developments Based on Disruption of the Barrier Properties of the stratum corneum |journal=Pharmaceutics |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=438–470 |doi=10.3390/pharmaceutics7040438 |issn=1999-4923 |pmc=4695828 |pmid=26506371|doi-access=free }}</ref> 

They can be administered in one dose, as a [[bolus (medicine)|bolus]]. Administration frequencies<ref>{{Cite web |title=USHIK: Medication Frequency |url=https://ushik.ahrq.gov/ViewItemDetails?system=mdr&itemKey=126006000 |access-date=31 March 2022 |website=ushik.ahrq.gov |language=en}}</ref> are often abbreviated from Latin, such as ''every 8 hours'' reading Q8H from ''Quaque VIII Hora''. The drug frequencies are often expressed as the number of times a drug is used per day (e.g., four times a day). It{{specify|date=November 2022}} may include event-related information (e.g., 1 hour before meals, in the morning, at bedtime), or complimentary to an interval, although equivalent expressions may have different implications (e.g., every 8 hours versus 3 times a day).{{cn|date=May 2023}}