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An Intervention to Reduce the Use of Error‐Prone Prescribing Abbreviations in the Emergency Department
Author(s) -
Taylor Simone E,
Chu Mimi TakYan,
Haack Louise A,
McGrath Anne,
To ThePhung
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of pharmacy practice and research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.222
H-Index - 22
eISSN - 2055-2335
pISSN - 1445-937X
DOI - 10.1002/j.2055-2335.2007.tb00747.x
Subject(s) - medicine , emergency department , intervention (counseling) , medical prescription , emergency medicine , nursing
Background Numerous national and international authorities have advised against the use of certain prescribing abbreviations due to their risk of misinterpretation. Aim To evaluate an intervention to reduce the use of error‐prone prescribing abbreviations in the emergency department (ED). Method The intervention consisted of education sessions as part of ED medical and nursing orientation programs, distribution of name badge sized cards summarising the information and placement of posters in the ED. All medication and fluid charts present in the ED at one randomly selected time each day were screened over consecutive days. Patients with at least one medication or fluid prescribed were included. Error‐prone abbreviations were classified as of major, moderate or minor significance. Pre‐intervention data on abbreviation usage guided the content of the intervention. Results 166 patients were included pre‐intervention and a further 166 patients post‐intervention. The overall rate of error‐prone abbreviation use per 100 prescriptions declined from 31.8 pre‐intervention to 18.7 post‐intervention (difference in rates 13.1; 95%CI 8.8–17.4; p < 0.001). The rate of use of major significance error‐prone abbreviations per 100 prescriptions decreased from 5.8 pre‐intervention to 2.3 post‐intervention (difference in rates 3.5; 95%CI 1.8–5.2; p < 0.001). Conclusion The intervention resulted in a significant reduction in the use of error‐prone abbreviations in the ED. Implementing this intervention hospital‐wide should have a further impact as ward‐based doctors also prescribe medications in the ED.