qAM
Abbreviation with 2 meanings
| Stands for | Every morning |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 2 |
| Categories | Medical, Technology & Computing |
| Also written | QAM |
qAM has two meanings. It stands for Every morning (prescription) or Quadrature amplitude modulation (telecom).
Meanings of qAM at a glance
| # | qAM stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Every morning | Medical › Prescription |
| 2 | Quadrature amplitude modulation | Technology & Computing › Telecom |
1. Every morning
Medical · Prescription Abbreviations
Directs a once-daily dose to be taken in the morning, chosen for drugs such as diuretics, stimulants or corticosteroids whose effects would disturb sleep if given at night. It is an English-Latin hybrid built from "quaque" (every) and ante meridiem.
Example: Furosemide 20 mg PO qAM so the patient is not up urinating all night.
Also written q.a.m., QAM or qam. It is not on The Joint Commission or ISMP lists, but some institutions still prefer "every morning" or "daily in the morning". A common pitfall is "q AM" being entered as a generic "daily" order, which defaults to a different time in the eMAR.
2. Quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM)
Technology & Computing · Telecom Abbreviations
Modulation method that encodes data by varying both the amplitude and phase of a radio signal, packing more bits into each symbol. Wi-Fi, cellular, cable TV and DOCSIS internet use QAM, with higher orders such as 1024-QAM delivering more speed with a strong signal.
Example: Wi-Fi 7's 4096-QAM only kicks in when the laptop is close to the router.
Each step up carries more bits per symbol: 256-QAM carries 8, 1024-QAM 10 and 4096-QAM 12, but higher orders need a cleaner signal, so devices drop to lower orders as distance grows. In cable television, "clear QAM" meant unencrypted digital channels that TVs could tune without a box; US cable operators encrypted most channels after an FCC rule change in 2012.
Related abbreviations
More prescription abbreviations
- q5min – Every 5 minutes
- q6h – Every 6 hours
- q72h – Every 72 hours
- q8h – Every 8 hours
- QD – Quaque die (every day, once daily)
- qds – Quater die sumendum (to be taken four times a day)
- qh – Quaque hora (every hour)
- QHS – Quaque hora somni (every night at bedtime)
See all 77 prescription abbreviations →
More telecom abbreviations
- POTS – Plain old telephone service
- PSTN – Public switched telephone network
- PTT – Push-to-talk
- PUK – PIN Unblocking Key
- RAN – Radio access network
- RCS – Rich Communication Services
- RF – Radio frequency
- RFID – Radio-frequency identification
See all 114 telecom abbreviations →
This entry is for general education and is not medical advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.