Joint Commission Do Not Use List Flashcards
Should you use U (unit)?
No, it can be mistaken for “0”, the number “4” or “cc”
Write out “unit” instead
Should you use IU (international unit).
No, it can be mistaken for IV or the number 10
Write out “international unit”
Should you use Q.D., QD, q.d., qd or Q.O.D., QOD,
No, it can be mistaken for each other
Period after the q mistaken for “I” and the O mistaken for “I”
Write “daily” and write “every other day”
Should you write a trailing zero (X.0 mg) or have no leading zero (.X mg)
No, the decimal point can be missed
You should write it as X mg and 0.X mg
Should you write MS or MSO or MGSO4?
No they can be confused with each other
Write out “morphine sulfate” and write “magnesium sulfate”
Should you use > (greater than) or < (less than)?
No, it can be misinterpreted as the number l7” or the letter L
Confused for one another
Write out greater or less than
Should you use abbreviations for drug names?
No, they can be misinterpreted due to similar abbreviations for many drugs
Write out drug names full
Should you use apothecary units?
Unfamiliar to many practitioners and confused with metric units
Use metric units
Should you use @?
No, mistaken for the number “2”
Write “at”
Should you use cc?
No, can be mistaken for units when poorly written
Use “ml” or milliliter
Should you use ug?
No, can be mistaken as milligrams. Write out micrograms
