ABBREVIATIONS-2

ABBREVIATIONS	INTENDED MEANING	MISINTERPRETATION	CORRECTION
µg	Microgram	Mistaken as “mg"	Use “mcg"
AD, AS, AU	Right ear, left ear, each ear	Mistaken as OD OS OU	Use “right ear”, “left ear”, or “each"
OD, OS, OU	The right eye, left eye, each eye	Mistaken as AD, AS, AU (right ear, left ear, each ear)	Use "right eye", “left eye”, or “each"
BT	Bedtime	Mistaken as “BID" (twice daily)	Use “bedtime"
cc	Cubic centimeters	Mistaken as “u" (unit6)	Use “mL’
D/C	Discharge or discontinue	Premature discontinuation of   medications if D/C (intended to mean “discharge") has been misinterpreted as “discontinued" when followed by a list of discharge.	Use “discharge" and "discontinue"
IJ	Injection	Mistaken as “IV" or “intrajugular"	Use “injection"
IN	intranasal	Mistaken as “IV" or “IM”	Use “intranasal" or “NAS"
HS hs	Half-strength, At bedtime, hours of sleep	Mistaken as bedtime Mistaken as half-strength	Use “half-strength” or “bedtime"
IU	International unit	Mistaken as IV (intravenous) or 10 (ten)	Use “units”
o.d. or OD	Once-daily	Mistaken as "right eye” (OD- oculus dexter), leading to oral liquid medications administered in the eye	Use “daily"
OJ	Orange juice	Mistaken as OD or OS (right or left eye); drugs meant to be diluted in orange juice may be given in the eye	Use “orange juice"
Per os	By mouth, orally	The “OS” can be mistaken as "left eye" (OS-oculus sinister)	Use “PO” “by mouth or “orally”
q.d. or QD**	Every day	Mistaken as q.i.d., especially If the period after the ”q" or the tail of the “q" is misunderstood as an "I"	Use “daily"
qhs	Nightly at bedtime	Mistaken as “qhr" or every hour	Use "nightly"
qn	Nightly or at bedtime	Mistaken as "qh" (every hour)	Use “nightly" or “at bedtime"
q.o.d. or QOD"	Every other day	Mistaken as “q.d.” (daily) or q.i.d. (four times daily) if the "o’ is poorly written	Use "every other day"
q1d	Daily	Mistaken as q.i.d. (four times   daily)	Use “daily"
q6PM, etc.	Every evening at 6PM	Mistaken as every 6 hours	Use "daily at 6PM" or “6PM daily”
SC, SQ, sub q	Subcutaneous	SC is mistaken as SL (sublingual); SQ is mistaken as ’5 every"; the “q" in “sub q" has been mistaken as "every" (e.g., a heparin dose ordered “sub q 2 hours before surgery" misunderstood as every 2 hours before surgery)	Use “subcut" or “subcutaneously"