Military Time

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I was recently told by several nurses at my facility that we are not to use military time in our documentation. This is not stated in my handbook and the DON has not said anything ot me about it. I strongly prefer military time since we chart by hand and handwriting tends to get rather messy. Can a facility actually make you stop using military time? Has anyone else been faced with this?

Specializes in Emergency/Cath Lab.

I totally forgot there was an AM/PM to the clock.

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
I totally forgot there was an AM/PM to the clock.

Yep, me too.........until I started working in assisted living, where they still believe in using standard time because they presume that unlicensed caregivers are incapable of understanding military time. Really?? How tough is it to figure out that 1800=12+6,or that 2100=12+9?

It drives me crazy to have to write "8 AM" and "8 PM" on the med sheet when I'm writing in a new order. The 24-hour clock makes much more sense to me because you really can't mess it up unless you truly do not know how to count. And if someone giving out medications doesn't know how to count.......:eek:

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Specializes in CDI Supervisor; Formerly NICU.

Our computer charting system requires that the 24 hr clock be used...for example, time time of the note would have to entered as '1925' yet is shows up on some reports at "7:25 pm"--go figure.

Even worse is when you see things like 0830 am.
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Yep, me too.........until I started working in assisted living, where they still believe in using standard time because they presume that unlicensed caregivers are incapable of understanding military time. Really?? How tough is it to figure out that 1800=12+6,or that 2100=12+9?

It drives me crazy to have to write "8 AM" and "8 PM" on the med sheet when I'm writing in a new order. The 24-hour clock makes much more sense to me because you really can't mess it up unless you truly do not know how to count. And if someone giving out medications doesn't know how to count.......:eek:

No kidding?

That's where I first learned it (in a nursing home).

They made the switch to military time while I was there and it took getting use to... but then I realized how much more sense it made.

As I have trained new CNA's, I just tell them to add "12" or subtract "12" to convert.

They get it.

It never ceases to amaze me just how stupid they think everyone is.

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Specializes in LTC.
Oh good lord. I have read many reasons on here for why people think they would lose their license, but this is the first time I have heard of losing one's license for using or not using military time.

Our computer charting system requires that the 24 hr clock be used...for example, time time of the note would have to entered as '1925' yet is shows up on some reports at "7:25 pm"--go figure. One exception--death certificates say "use am or pm not the 24 hour clock." I have no idea what the rationale is for this.

In general, I am a big fan of using the 24 hour clock. It (usually) can help prevent a lot of confusion.

Haha, that's her reasoning for everything. "I'm not helping the CNA pull that person up in bed! I could drop them and lose my license!", "I'm not calling the doctor! You call the doctor! If I call she will not understand me and I will lose my license!"

I think it's just her favorite excuse at this point. She's...fun.... to work with.

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Specializes in ER, ICU.

Military time is more clear and less likely to cause confusion or errors. This contributes to patient safety. You would have to pry military time from my cold, dead, hand.

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Specializes in ICU.

Military time is much less confusing. Im so used to it I use it in my everyday life now! (which does confuse people who don't work in healthcare/military/law enforcement). I like the "you'll lose your license for drugs, fraud, MURDER...using military time, not so much." SO true...people are riDICulous about "I'm afraid for my license!!" Ugh!!!

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The twenty four hour clock is used in many facilities to preclude errors in reporting the time of events. When I have worked where people couldn't make up their minds about what to put on their paper charting, I continued to use the twenty four hour clock because it makes sense. Ask you boss what the policy is. If there is no policy, use the twenty four hour clock. No one will be able to misconstrue your charting.

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Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.

In my mind, there should be a policy one way or the other.

If some people use the 24 hr clock and others refuse to take the 2 seconds necessary to find out "what time" 1900 is...well, there would be a clear policy on it, and confusion is decreased.

If the facility decides am/pm is OK, then their should be a policy that this is to be always used. All entries must have an AM or a PM behind them. I am used to using the 24 hour clock. I have seen instances where I know something is timed for 1900, yet only '7:00' is charted. I have seen cases where there is enough of a space behind the 7:00 before the 'pm' that the pm gets lost in the start of the note. At least if am/pm is the standard, I know that everyone will/should write it and I would know to look for it on every note/order/MAR, etc.

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