The Joint Commission "Do Not Use" List of Abbreviations

The Joint Commission

	Official “Do Not Use” List1
Do Not Use	Potential Problem	Use Instead
U (unit)	Mistaken for “0” (zero), the Number “4” (four) or “cc”	Write “unit”
IU (International Unit)	Mistaken for IV (intravenous) or the number 10 (ten)	Write “International Unit”
Q.D., QD, q.d., qd (daily) Q.O.D., QOD, q.o.d., qod (every other day)	Mistaken for each other Period after the Q mistaken for “I” and the “O” mistaken for “I”	Write “daily” Write “every other day”
Trailing zero (X.0 mg)* Lack of leading zero (.X mg)	Decimal point is missed	Write X mg Write 0.X mg
MS MSO4 and MgSO4	Can mean morphine sulfate or Magnesium sulfate Confused for one another	Write “morphine sulfate” Write “magnesium sulfate”
1Applies to all orders and all medication-related documentation that is handwritten (including free-text computer entry) or on pre-printed forms. *Exception:  A “trailing zero” may be used only where required to demonstrate the level of precision of the value being reported, such as for laboratory results, imaging studies that report size of lesions, or catheter/tube sizes.  It may not be used in medication orders or other medication-related documentation.
Additional Abbreviations, Acronyms and Symbols (For possible future inclusion in the Official “Do Not Use” List)
Do Not Use	Potential Problem	Use Instead
> (greater than) < (less than)	Misinterpreted as the number “7” (seven) or the letter “L” Confused for one another	Write “greater than” Write “less than”
Abbreviations for drug names	Misinterpreted due to similar abbreviations for multiple drugs	Write drug names in full
Apothecary units	Unfamiliar to many practitioners Confused with metric units	Use metric units
@	Mistaken for the number “2” (two)	Write “at”
cc	Mistaken for U (units) when poorly written	Write “mL” or “ml” or “milliliters” (“mL” is preferred)
µg	Mistaken for mg (milligrams) resulting in one thousand-fold overdose	Write “mcg” or “micrograms”

Medical Abbreviations:  30,000 Conveniences, 14^th Edition by Neil M. Davis