Medical Prescription Abbreviations | Dosage Errors | Medical Algorithm

Are you evaluating handwritten orders for abbreviations that can be easily misunderstood?

Yes

Are the following abbreviations in use?

• ad for right ear?

Yes

• as for left ear?

Yes

• au for both ears?

Yes

• cc for cubic centimeter?

Yes

• D/C for discharge of discontinue?

Yes

• gr for gram or grain?

Yes

• HS for half strength or hour of sleep?

Yes

• µg for microgram?

Yes

• µL for microliter?

Yes

• od for right eye?

Yes

• os for left eye?

Yes

• ou for both eyes?

Yes

• qd for per day?

Yes

• qid for 4 times a day?

Yes

• qod for every other day?

Yes

• SC for subcutaneous?

Yes

• SL for sublingual?

Yes

• SQ for subcutaneous?

Yes

• T I W for 3 times a week?

Yes

• TW for twice a week?

Yes

• U for units?

Yes

Evaluation

Results

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Interpretation and Description

References

Next Steps in Evaluation

Diagnosis

Therapy

Monitoring

Societal Concerns

Specialty

Objective

ICD-10

Prescription Abbreviations Associated with Dosage Errors

Purpose: To determine if a person uses abbreviations that could be misinterpreted, resulting in a dosage error.