I just heard from a friend that, in nursing school nowadays, nurses are no longer taught things like "b.i.d." "q.i.d" "q6h" "h.s" and things like that--that, in fact, it is now required that, in nursing notes and even on the part of the physicians writing orders, that the actual phrase be written out--"twice a day" "evey 6 hours" or "at hour of sleep, before bedtime, or at 10 p.m." (choose the most appropriate)
Have those of you who work med-surg noted this to be true on your post-op patients? If so, when did it all start, and do you know if it was a JCAHO patient safety decision?
I am curious as to whether it affected other commonly used abbreviations, as well. For example, do the dosc now write "anti-embolic stockings" instead of simply "TEDS" and instead of writing "SCDs" do they actually write out "sequential compression devices?" Do they write out "arterial blood gases" instead of "ABGs?" "Complete blood count" instead of CBC? Just curious as to the exact rules, if any, involving this "no abbreviations" trend, and if it has changed your OWN charting practices.
I was reviewing a chart the other day in which "PAS" was written on a line in which another order was crossed out. At first I thought it was the initials of the person who crossed out the order, but on closer inspection I saw that HIS initials were "PAC."
Since it was critical I know for sure what this meant, yet never having seen the term "PAS" I called a nurse friend in the state in which the chart originated. She knew right away--it stood for "Pneumatic antiembolic stockings." "Whoda thunk it"--certainly not anybody in MY neck of the woods. We call them SCDs or ICDs (intermittent compression devices) or simply "compression pumps" out here.
