What are the risks involved in using abbreviations in medical terminology?

Abbreviations are sometimes not understood, misread, or interpreted incorrectly. Their use lengthens the time needed to train healthcare professionals; wastes time tracking down their meaning; sometimes delays the patient’s care; and occasionally results in patient harm.

What makes an abbreviation dangerous?

Dangerous abbreviations are also known as “error-prone abbreviations”. They are referred to as “dangerous” or “error-prone” because they can lead to misinterpretation of orders and other communications, resulting in patient harm or death.

What errors can occur in regards to abbreviations?

The three most common types of abbreviation-related errors were prescribing (67.5 percent), improper dose/quantity (20.7 percent) and incorrectly prepared medication (3.9 percent).

Why is it not generally acceptable to use abbreviations in records?

Abbreviations that are well understood in a local setting can be misinterpreted when records are made available between agencies or through national systems. Design constraints can mean that the space available to enter or display terms or phrases on the computer screen is limited.

Why is it important to be cautious when using abbreviations?

Medical students and doctors struggle with ambiguous abbreviations daily in trying to figure out a patient’s history from the chart. Although they can often be deciphered in context, these abbreviations can lead to serious morbidity and mortality.

Why are abbreviations used in the medical field?

Abbreviations are commonly used in the medical world to save time and space whilst writing in the patients’ medical records. As various specialties have evolved, each has developed a collection of commonly used abbreviations within its practice, which may not be recognizable to those not working within the same field.

Which abbreviation should be avoided in medication administration?

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Abbreviations	Intended Meaning	Correction
Per os	By mouth, orally	Use “PO,” “by mouth,” or “orally”
q.d. or QD**	Every day	Use “daily”
qhs	Nightly at bedtime	Use “nightly”
qn	Nightly or at bedtime	Use “nightly” or “at bedtime”

Why might a healthcare professional use an abbreviation that is on the Do Not Use list or the error prone list?

Conclusions: A ‘Do Not Use’ list is effective in reducing error-prone abbreviations. Reinforcements of the ‘Do Not Use’ list further improves prescriber adherence. However, many other unapproved abbreviations (not included in current ‘Do Not Use’ lists) are used when prescribing.

Why do we use abbreviations in the medical field?

What is the advantage of using acronym?

But why do we tend to use acronyms and abbreviations so often? Because it takes less time to say or write the first initial of each word or an abbreviated form of the full word than to spell out every single word. So using acronyms and abbreviations in your everyday speech makes communication easier and faster.

Are abbreviations in prescriptions and medical records dangerous?

Abbreviations, used to save time and space, have become ubiquitous in prescriptions and medical records. However, they are frequently a source of confusion and can be a major risk in clinical practice. Medical students and doctors struggle with ambiguous abbreviations daily in trying to figure out a patient’s history from the chart.

Why are medical abbreviations so difficult to understand?

Medical students and doctors struggle with ambiguous abbreviations daily in trying to figure out a patient’s history from the chart. Although they can often be deciphered in context, these abbreviations can lead to serious morbidity and mortality.

Why are abbreviations not allowed in medical documentation?

The medical documentation community has battled against abbreviations for many years, primarily because of the risk of an abbreviation being used by one person to mean one thing, and interpreted by someone else to mean something different altogether.

Are abbreviations a source of confusion in clinical practice?

However, they are frequently a source of confusion and can be a major risk in clinical practice. Medical students and doctors struggle with ambiguous abbreviations daily in trying to figure out a patient’s history from the chart. Although they can often be deciphered in context, these abbreviations can lead to serious morbidity and mortality.