Should Nursing Programs Continue to Teach the Error Prone Abbreviations

Institute for Safe Medication Practices

ISMP's List of

Error-Prone Abbreviations

,

Symbols

, and

Dose Designations

Abbreviations Intended Meaning Misinterpretation Correction

µg Microgram Mistaken as "mg" Use "mcg"

AD, AS, AU Right ear, left ear, each ear Mistaken as OD, OS, OU (right eye, left eye, each eye) Use "right ear," "left ear," or "each ear"

OD, OS, OU Right eye, left eye, each eye Mistaken as AD, AS, AU (right ear, left ear, each ear) Use "right eye," "left eye," or "each eye"

BT Bedtime Mistaken as "BID" (twice daily) Use "bedtime"

cc Cubic centimeters Mistaken as "u" (units) Use "mL"

D/C Discharge or discontinue Premature discontinuation of medications if D/C (intended to mean

"discharge") has been misinterpreted as "discontinued" when

followed by a list of discharge medications

Use "discharge" and "discontinue"

IJ Injection Mistaken as "IV" or "intrajugular" Use "injection"

IN Intranasal Mistaken as "IM" or "IV" Use "intranasal" or "NAS"

HS

hs

Half-strength

At bedtime, hours of sleep

Mistaken as bedtime

Mistaken as half-strength

Use "half-strength" or "bedtime"

IU** International unit Mistaken as IV (intravenous) or 10 (ten) Use "units"

o.d. or OD Once daily Mistaken as "right eye" (OD-oculus dexter), leading to oral liquid

medications administered in the eye

Use "daily"

OJ Orange juice Mistaken as OD or OS (right or left eye); drugs meant to be diluted

in orange juice may be given in the eye

Use "orange juice"

Per os By mouth, orally The "os" can be mistaken as "left eye" (OS-oculus sinister) Use "PO," "by mouth," or "orally"

q.d. or QD** Every day Mistaken as q.i.d., especially if the period after the "q" or the tail of

the "q" is misunderstood as an "i"

Use "daily"

qhs Nightly at bedtime Mistaken as "qhr" or every hour Use "nightly"

qn Nightly or at bedtime Mistaken as "qh" (every hour) Use "nightly" or "at bedtime"

q.o.d. or QOD** Every other day Mistaken as "q.d." (daily) or "q.i.d. (four times daily) if the "o" is

poorly written

Use "every other day"

q1d Daily Mistaken as q.i.d. (four times daily) Use "daily"

q6PM, etc. Every evening at 6 PM Mistaken as every 6 hours Use "daily at 6 PM" or "6 PM daily"

SC, SQ, sub q Subcutaneous SC mistaken as SL (sublingual); SQ mistaken as "5 every;" the "q"

in "sub q" has been mistaken as "every" (e.g., a heparin dose

ordered "sub q 2 hours before surgery" misunderstood as every 2

hours before surgery)

Use "subcut" or "subcutaneously"

ss Sliding scale (insulin) or ½

(apothecary)

Mistaken as "55" Spell out "sliding scale;" use "one-half" or

"½"

SSRI

SSI

Sliding scale regular insulin

Sliding scale insulin

Mistaken as selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitor

Mistaken as Strong Solution of Iodine (Lugol's)

Spell out "sliding scale (insulin)"

i/d One daily Mistaken as "tid" Use "1 daily"

TIW or tiw 3 times a week Mistaken as "3 times a day" or "twice in a week" Use "3 times weekly"

U or u** Unit Mistaken as the number 0 or 4, causing a 10-fold overdose or

greater (e.g., 4U seen as "40" or 4u seen as "44"); mistaken as

"cc" so dose given in volume instead of units (e.g., 4u seen as 4cc)

Use "unit"

UD As directed ("ut dictum") Mistaken as unit dose (e.g., diltiazem 125 mg IV infusion "UD" misin-

terpreted as meaning to give the entire infusion as a unit [bolus] dose)

Use "as directed"

Dose Designations

and Other Information

Intended Meaning Misinterpretation Correction

Trailing zero after

decimal point

(e.g., 1.0 mg)**

1 mg Mistaken as 10 mg if the decimal point is not seen Do not use trailing zeros for doses

expressed in whole numbers

"Naked" decimal point

(e.g., .5 mg)**

0.5 mg Mistaken as 5 mg if the decimal point is not seen Use zero before a decimal point when the

dose is less than a whole unit

Abbreviations such as mg.

or mL. with a period

following the abbreviation

mg

mL

The period is unnecessary and could be mistaken as the number 1 if

written poorly

Use mg, mL, etc. without a terminal

period

he abbreviations, symbols, and dose designations found in

this table have been reported to ISMP through the ISMP

National Medication Errors Reporting Program (ISMP MERP) as

being frequently misinterpreted and involved in harmful

medication errors. They should NEVER be used when commu-

nicating medical information. This includes internal communica-

tions, telephone/verbal prescriptions, computer-generated

labels, labels for drug storage bins, medication administration

records, as well as pharmacy and prescriber computer order

entry screens.

T

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Source: https://www.studocu.com/en-us/document/southern-new-hampshire-university/introduction-to-health-information-technology/error-prone-abbreviations/21582598

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