The Impact of
Abbreviations on Patient Safety
[Posted 8/24/07]
Medication dispensing
errors can be reduced by spelling out instructions
rather than using abbreviations that can be
misinterpreted. This and other finding were
reported in the study
The
Impact of Abbreviations on Patient Safety
in the September 2007 issue of
The
Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient
Safety,
which gathered and reviewed data on abbreviation
errors reported to the United States Pharmacopeia’s
MEDMARX®, a national database for
medication errors, from 2004 through 2006. The
study’s findings further support the use of the
Joint Commission’s “Do Not Use List” of
abbreviations, and many healthcare professionals
are advocating expansion of this list.
The Joint Commission requires that the abbreviations
in the list no longer be used for hand-written
communication.
Statistical information:
- The
use of “qd” in place of “once daily” accounted
for 43% of the errors.
-
Broken down by when the errors took place: 81%
while prescribing, 14% while transcribing, and
2.9% while dispensing.
-
Nearly 40% of the abbreviation errors were caused
by unidentifiable abbreviations.
-
Errors occurred more often from medical staff
compared to nursing staff, pharmacists, other
healthcare providers and non-healthcare
providers.
Related Links:
The Official Do Not Use List
Article on Complete Study
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