title: Intervention to reduce the use of unsafe abbreviations in a teaching hospital.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the effectiveness of a two-phase intervention designed to reduce the use of unsafe abbreviations.
  
  
  METHODS
  An observational prospective study was conducted at the King Khalid University Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia during May-September 2009. A list of unsafe abbreviations was formulated based on the recommendations of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices. The first 7000 medication orders written at the beginning of each period were collected. Phase one of the intervention involved educating health care professionals about the dangers of using unsafe abbreviations. In the second phase of the intervention, a policy was approved that prohibited the use of unsafe abbreviations hospital-wide. Then, another educational campaign targeted toward prescribers was organized. Descriptive statistics are used in this paper to present the results.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At baseline, we identified 1980 medication abbreviations used in 7000 medication orders (28.3%). Three months after phase one of the intervention, the number of abbreviations found in 7000 medication orders had decreased to 1489 (21.3%). Six months later, after phase two of the intervention, the number of abbreviations used had decreased to 710 (10%). During this phase, the use of all abbreviations had declined relative to the baseline and phase one use levels. The decrease in the use of abbreviations was statistically significant in all three periods (P < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The implementation of a complex intervention program reduced the use of unsafe abbreviations by 65%.
authors: King Khalid University Hospital, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia.
authors: Mashael
authors: M
authors: Alshaikh
authors: Ahmed
authors: A
authors: Mayet
authors: Mansour
authors: M
authors: Adam
authors: Yusuf
authors: Y
authors: Ahmed
authors: Hisham
authors: H
authors: Aljadhey
keywords: Medications; Unsafe abbreviations
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