Convert a timeFor study practice. Follow your facility’s charting policy.
24-hour (military) time1430
12-hour time2:30 PM
Why health care uses military time
Military time counts all 24 hours of the day instead of splitting them into two 12-hour halves. Open RN’s Nursing Skills textbook calls it the standard way to write medication administration times, because it removes AM and PM mix-ups. A medication due at 7 AM and 7 PM is charted as 0700 and 1900.
How to convert
- Morning (AM): drop the colon and add a leading zero if the hour has one digit. 6:30 AM is 0630.
- Afternoon and evening (PM): drop the colon and add 1200 to the hour. 7:15 PM is 1915.
- Noon: 12:00 PM stays 1200.
- Midnight: 12:00 AM is 0000, and 12:30 AM is 0030.
- Back to 12-hour time: for 1300 and later, subtract 1200 and add PM. 1930 is 7:30 PM.
Some places also write midnight at the end of a day as 2400. The converter accepts it, but Open RN uses 0000.
Examples
| 12-hour time | Military time |
|---|---|
| 12:30 AM | 0030 |
| 6:30 AM | 0630 |
| 12:00 PM (noon) | 1200 |
| 7:15 PM | 1915 |
| 11:00 PM | 2300 |
| 12:00 AM (midnight) | 0000 |
When it comes up
Open RN describes military time as the standard for medication times, so you’ll see it on medication administration records. It also shows up in IV math, such as working out when an infusion that starts at 0800 and runs 6 hours 40 minutes will finish (1440).
Sources
- Open RN (WisTech Open), CC BY 4.0, Nursing Skills 2e, 5.3 Military time. Why nurses use military time, the conversion rules, the conversion table, practice answers. Checked October 16, 2026.
- Open RN (WisTech Open), CC BY 4.0, Nursing Skills 2e, 15.2 Basic concepts of administering medications. Medication times are usually written in military time, such as 2300 for 11 PM. Checked October 16, 2026.