Accreditation

Tip of the Week: Educate staff about unapproved abbreviations

Accreditation Connection, August 22, 2005

Miami (FL) Children's Hospital, a 268-bed facility, is at 90% compliance since implementing a major education and outreach program that made abbreviations visible.

The hospital posted the JCAHO's unapproved-abbreviation list on all orders so staff could see them when writing, says Connie Chan, PharmD, the hospital's pharmacy services director. Also, all computer screensavers have the list and staff carry the abbreviations on laminated cards next to their identification badges, she says.

"There is nowhere that you can go without seeing them," Chan says.

Residents write 80% of the hospital's orders, Chan says, so staff conducted audits of orders, and if a resident wrote an order with an unapproved abbreviation, the medical education coordinator would receive a copy to alert the resident.

Adapted from the August issue of Hospital Pharmacy Regulation Report.

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