Abbreviations

[tigruss_angel]

when are abbreviations acceptable , who should use them and why?

That is a question i am to research for med. terminology this weekend.

I have my own answer and thoughts but was hoping for more to add. I have already researched and added info about the "do not use list" any help would be greatly appreciated

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

abbreviations are acceptable when a facility has a policy that specifically lists the ones that are acceptable for employees to use in their documentation. over the years, some of the facilities i've worked in have had either very long extensive lists or short ones. they will sometimes include abbreviations that are unique to their facility that no one else in the world uses. depends on the facility and who got behind the policy that got put into effect. usually it's a combination of people from medical records, nursing and medicine departments that get on these comittees and get these things put into effect.

and, of course, as you've discovered, jcaho has gotten involved with their do not use list. have you seen the ismp's list of error prone abbreviations? it is here: http://www.ismp.org/tools/errorproneabbreviations.pdf

[10ACGIRL]

Medical office is the nmost where u use medical terminology

[kukukajoo, LPN]

I just found out this week in clinical that the facility I am at actually has a 16 page list of acceptable abbreviations to use in charting, etc. I had no idea that this would exist although I know that the Joint Commission has a list of abbreviations not to use somewhere, like MS for Morphine is not okay, you must spell out Morphine Sulfate, etc.

I had a great preceptor who really loves to teach and she got me a copy to study which I appreciate because I want to work at this facility when I graduate.

It leads me to wonder if other facilities have such a list of approved abbreviations. Anyone care to comment on this?

[caliotter3]

When my home health agency got on the JCAHO Do Not Use list bandwagon, they sent out copies of their list of accepted abbreviations to each employee with the Do Not List terms annotated at the end. We also got a couple of updated versions. We were also told to basically stop using abbreviations in our day to day charting. I started writing everything out, because I didn't want to get called in to rewrite my notes. That's how I solved the problem. Unfortunately, nobody started telling the MDs to start writing out their orders completely and to stop using terms like QOD.

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

It leads me to wonder if other facilities have such a list of approved abbreviations. Anyone care to comment on this?

If they do, they will be in the nursing policy and procedure manual under documentation or part of the medical records policy and procedure manual.

[tigruss_angel]

Thank you to everyone that answered it was a great help ....

[sugar-laurie82]

who should use medical abbreviations and why?