Educational interventions to reduce use of unsafe abbreviations.
OBJECTIVE
Educational interventions to reduce the use of abbreviations and dosage designations that were deemed unsafe at a level 1 trauma center are described.


CONCLUSIONS
Strategies to reduce the use of unsafe abbreviations at Detroit Receiving Hospital were studied. Six abbreviations and dosage designations were deemed as unsafe by the site's medication-use and patient medical safety committees: (1) U for units, (2) microg for microgram, (3) TIW for three times a week, (4) the degree symbol for hour, (5) trailing zeros after a decimal point, and (6) the lack of leading zeros before a decimal point. Data on abbreviation use was collected starting in September 2003 by examining copies of patients' order sheets, which are sent from nursing units to the pharmacy for processing. Data were collected during three 24-hour periods each month, with 7-10 days between each period. A data collection sheet was developed to assist in documenting the number of opportunities for each unsafe abbreviation and the actual incidence of each. Educational strategies were developed and implemented starting in October 2003 to decrease the use of the unsafe abbreviations. These strategies included inservice education programs for the medical, pharmacy, and nursing staffs; laminated pocket cards; patient chart dividers; stickers; and interventions by pharmacists and nurses during medication prescribing. During the eight-month evaluation period, 20,160 orders were reviewed, representing 27,663 opportunities to use a designated unsafe abbreviation. Educational interventions successfully reduced the overall incidence of unsafe abbreviations from 19.69% to 3.31%.


CONCLUSIONS
Educational interventions markedly reduced the use of unsafe abbreviations in medication orders over an eight-month evaluation period.
Abushaiqa
Mohammed E
ME
Medication Department, Medical Supply, General Administration of Medical Services Ministry of Interior, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. alsharif3@yahoo.com
Zaran
Frank K
FK
Bach
David S
DS
Smolarek
Richard T
RT
Farber
Margo S
MS
D000004:Abbreviations as Topic; D003625:Data Collection; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000592:standards*; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing; D006281:Health Occupations / Q000193:education*; D006745:Hospital Bed Capacity, 300 to 499; D006801:Humans; D007318:Inservice Training; D008508:Medication Errors / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D014193:Trauma Centers
D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations