ABBREVIATIONS-4

ABBREVIATIONS	INTENDED MEANING	MISINTERPRETATION	CORRECTION
ss	Sliding scale (insulin) or / (apothecary)	Mistaken as ' 55"	Spell out “sliding scale"; use “one-half’ or “1/2’
SSRI SSI	Sliding scale regular insulin Sliding scale insulin	Mistaken as a selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitor Mistaken as Strong Solution of Iodine (Lugol's)	Spell out "sliding scale(insulin)"
i/d	One daily	Mistaken as “tid"	Use ‘1 daily"
TIW or tiw	3 times a week	Mistaken as "3 times a day’ or "twice in a week"	Use ‘3 times weekly"
U or u"	Unit	Mistaken as the number 0 or 4, causing a 10-fold overdose or   greater (e.g., 4U seen as "40" or 4u seen as "44”); mistaken as “cc"  so dose given in volume instead of units	Use “unit"
UD	As directed (‘ut dictum")	Mistaken as unit dose (e.g.,diltiazem 125mg IV infusion “UD" misinterpreted as meaning to give the entire infusion	Use “as directed"
BID or bid	Twice daily	Mistaken as ”tid” (three times daily)	bd
gtt or gutte	Drops	Latin abbreviation meaning ’drops', not universally	‘drops’ or eye drops’ whichever is intended
IT	Intrathecal	Mistaken as Intravenous	intrathecal
M	Morning	Mistaken for 'n’ (night)	morning
N	Night	Mistaken for 'm’ (morning)	night
mist	Mixture	Latin abbreviation, not universally understood	Mixture
Oc or Occ	Eye ointment	Mistaken for eye drops	Eye ointment
p/f	Per fortnight	Not universally understood	Every two weeks, per fortnight
pulv	Powder	Latin abbreviation, not universally understood	Powder
SL/ or S/L	Sublingual	Mistaken as 'SC’ (Subcutaneous)	‘suiting’, ‘under the
TID	Three times a day	Mistaken as ‘bd’	tds
ung	Ointment	Latin abbreviation, not universally understood	ointment
SYMBOL	INTENDED MEANING	MISINTERPRETATION	CORRECTION
s	Dram Minim	The symbol for dram mistaken as “3"       The symbol for minim mistaken as "ML"	Use the metric system
x3d	For three days	Mistaken as “3 doses"	Use “for three days"
> and <	Greater than and less than	Mistaken as opposite of intended; mistakenly use incorrect symbol; ‘ ‹ 10" mistaken as “40"	Use “greater than" or “less than"
/(slash mark)	Separate two doses or indicates "per"	Mistaken as the number 1 (e.g., “25 units/10 units"	Use ‘per" rather than a slash mark to separate doses
@	At	Mistaken as “2"	Use ’ at"
&	And	Mistaken as “2"	Use “and"
+	Plus or and	Mistake as “4"	Use "and"
°	Hour	Mistaken as a zero (e.g. q2 seen as q 20)	Use “hr", “h", or “hour"
ɸ    or	Zero, null sign	Mistaken as numerals 4, 6, 8, and 9	Use 0 or zero, or describe intent using whole words