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Caution: Medical Abbreviations Can Be Harmful
to Your Health
Over 7,000 patients die each year from medication
errors according to the Institute for Safe Medication.
In 2005, the Joint Commission finalized its “Do
Not Use” abbreviation list. This list represents
a list of abbreviations that are not to be used
at all. In November 2005, the Institute for Safe
Medication and the FDA partnered to launch an
all encompassing list of medical abbreviations.
That work product, expected to launch this spring
in an educational campaign, is intended to be
a reference tool available any time medical information
is being communicated.
Medical abbreviations are commonly used among
health practitioners. They are taught on the use
of medical abbreviations early in their medical
education. Now, a re-education process is under
way to help those who touch patients’ lives
everyday that those simple abbreviations have
a way of destroying lives.
One of the common errors noted are words that
end in the letter “l”. Instead of
seeing the letter, practitioners who are responsible
for preparing or administering the medication
may instead see the number 1. Another medical
abbreviation that has been noted is BT. The intended
meaning is bedtime, but it has been mistaken as
“BID” also known as twice daily. The
abbreviations HS and hs have also been added to
the list of error-prone. HS means half-strength
and hs means at bedtime.
A careful examination of the medical record can
locate such abbreviations to determine if they
have been used appropriately. A comparison of
the order, the medication administration record,
and progress notes can help to identify the intended
use of medication versus what may have been administered.
Further, even those facilities that have computer
charting may still have physicians who hand write
orders or nurses who hand write new orders into
computer generated MARS.
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