INAPPROPRIATE MEDICAL ABBREVIATIONS

Course overview

USE OF MEDICAL ABBREVIATIONS IN MEDICINE IS NOT NEW. SINCE THE DEVELOPMENT OF MAINSTREAM MEDICINE NEARLY 200 YEARS AGO, ABBREVIATIONS HAVE BEEN USED. WHILE INITIALLY, THE ABBREVIATIONS WERE LIMITED TO THE WRITING OF PRESCRIPTIONS, TODAY, ABBREVIATIONS HAVE BECOME VERY COMMON IN ALL ASPECTS OF MEDICAL DOCUMENTATION. MEDICAL ABBREVIATIONS ARE USED IN ALL MEDICAL AND SURGICAL DEPARTMENTS, DURING SURGERY, THE EMERGENCY ROOM, AND AT DISCHARGE. ONE AREA WHERE MEDICAL ABBREVIATIONS ARE USED MOST OFTEN AND ARE A CAUSE FOR CONCERN IS WHEN WRITING DRUG ORDERS. UNTIL RECENTLY, THE USE OF ABBREVIATIONS HAS NEVER BEEN REGULATED, AND THERE IS NO UNIVERSAL RULE AS TO WHICH ABBREVIATIONS CAN BE USED AND WHICH ONES CANNOT. IN FACT, OVER THE PAST 3 DECADES, SOME HEALTHCARE WORKERS HAVE BEEN MAKING UP ABBREVIATIONS. THE LONG-STANDING PRACTICE OF WRITING MEDICAL ABBREVIATION HAS BECOME SO ENTRENCHED IN HEALTHCARE THAT EVEN THE MOST JUNIOR MEDICAL AND NURSING SCHOOL GRADUATES ARE VERY ACCUSTOMED TO WRITING THEM. IN FACT, MANY HEALTHCARE INSTITUTIONS HAVE SPECIALIZED LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS THAT CAN BE USED. NOW, WITH A MORE FORMALIZED PRACTICE OF MEDICINE, THERE IS A CONCERN THAT RAMPANT USE OF MEDICAL ABBREVIATIONS MAY POSE A DANGER TO THE PATIENT. WHILE THERE ARE ANECDOTAL EXAMPLES OF MEDICAL ABBREVIATIONS THAT HAVE CAUSED HARM TO A FEW PATIENTS, GOOD CLINICAL EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THE BELIEF THAT MEDICAL ABBREVIATION USE IS DANGEROUS OR IS CAUSING PROBLEMS IN THE DELIVERY OF STANDARD OF CARE IS LACKING. IN ANY CASE, THE POTENTIAL FOR HARM TO THE PATIENT FROM IMPROPER COMMUNICATION AS A RESULT OF MEDICAL ABBREVIATIONS CANNOT BE UNDERSTATED. THIS ACTIVITY REVIEWS THE INAPPROPRIATE USE OF MEDICAL ABBREVIATIONS AND DISCUSSES THE ROLE OF THE INTERPROFESSIONAL TEAM IN AVOIDING ACTING ON ORDERS THAT ARE UNCLEAR DUE TO THE USE OF AN ABBREVIATION.