Question

How do I cite "facts about the official "DO NOT USE" List of Abbreviations: y the joint commission for medical abbr. in APA format

Answer 1

The Joint Commission’s “Do Not Use” List is part of the Information Management standards. This requirement does not apply to preprogrammed health information technology systems (for example, electronic medical records or CPOE systems), but this application remains under consideration for the future. Organizations contemplating introduction or upgrade of such systems should strive to eliminate the use of dangerous abbreviations, acronyms, symbols and dose designations from the software.

Official “Do Not Use” List1

Do Not Use

Potential Problem

Use Instead

U, u (unit)

Mistaken for “0” (zero), the number “4” (four) or “cc”

Write "unit"

IU (International Unit)

Mistaken for IV (intravenous) or the number 10 (ten)

Write "International Unit"

Q.D., QD, q.d., qd (daily)

Q.O.D., QOD, q.o.d, qod(every other day)

Mistaken for each other

Period after the Q mistaken for "I" and the "O" mistaken for "I"

Write "daily"

Write "every other day"

Trailing zero (X.0 mg)*

Lack of leading zero (.X mg)

Decimal point is missed

Write X mg

Write 0.X mg

MS

MSO4 and MgSO4

Can mean morphine sulfate or magnesium sulfate

Confused for one another

Write "morphine sulfate"

Write "magnesium sulfate"