[indices] ISMP list of error-prone abbreviations

["Rochat Carolyn" <rochatc@nbi-kzn.org.za>]

Dear all

ISMP and FDA Campaign to Eliminate Use of Error-Prone
Abbreviations

The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) and the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have launched a
national education campaign to help eliminate one of the most
common but preventable sources of medication errors-the use of
ambiguous medical abbreviations. 

Some abbreviations, symbols and dose designations are
frequently misinterpreted and lead to mistakes that result in
patient harm. The ISMP-FDA campaign seeks to promote safe
practices and prevent serious and even potentially fatal
mistakes when communicating medication orders.

The campaign focuses on eliminating the use of error-prone
abbreviations by healthcare professionals and students,
medical communications and publishing professionals, the
pharmaceutical industry, and FDA staff. ISMP and the FDA plan
to reach those audiences through targeted educational
materials, articles in professional journals, and
presentations at key conferences and meetings.  

ISMP and FDA recommend that ISMP's List of Error-Prone
Abbreviations, Symbols, and Dose Designations be referenced
whenever and wherever medical information is being
communicated. This includes internal communications,
telephone/verbal prescriptions, computer-generated labels,
labels for drug storage bins, medication administration
records, and pharmacy and prescriber computer order entry
screens, as well as product labeling, industry promotional
materials, and medical publications.

Some of the abbreviations on ISMP's list are included in the
current Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare
Organizations (JCAHO) National Patient Safety Goal 2B, a "do
not use" list of error-prone abbreviations, but ISMP's full
listing includes additional medical notations that have been
associated with medication errors reported to the USP-ISMP
Medication Errors Reporting Program.
http://www.ismp.org/tools/abbreviations/
<http://www.ismp.org/tools/abbreviations/>   

The list is available in PDF format off the website.

Carolyn Rochat 
INDICES moderator

 

 


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