For oral liquid preparations, express could be interpreted as or as ‘1/2’ ‘half’ dose in weight as well as volume. to two’. ‘one For example, in the case of morphine Do not use symbols. oral solution (5 mg/mL), prescribe the Avoid, for example, to mean ‘°2’ ‘every dose in mg and confirm the volume in two hours’. brackets, e.g. mg (2 mL)’. ‘10 Avoid acronyms or abbreviations for Express dosage frequency medical terms and procedure names unambiguously. For example, use on orders or prescriptions. times a week’ not times ‘three ‘three weekly’, as the latter could be confused For example, avoid using to mean ‘EBM’ as three weeks’. ‘every breast milk’. ‘expressed Use words to express numbers of Use 24-hour time for 1,000 or more. administration. For example, say thousand’ instead Midnight medicine administration should ‘one of and million’ instead of be avoided where possible. ‘1,000’, ‘one or Otherwise use commas ‘1,000,000’ ‘1m’. Avoid fractions. for dosing units at or above 1,000. For example: could be interpreted as one ‘1/7’ ‘for day’, daily’, one week’ or ‘once ‘for weekly’ ‘once
For oral liquid preparations, express dose in weight as well as volume. For example, in the case of morphine oral solution (5 mg/mL), prescribe the dose in mg and confirm the volume in brackets, e.g. ‘10 mg (2 mL)’. Express dosage frequency unambiguously. For example, use ‘three times a week’ not ‘three times weekly’, as the latter could be confused as ‘every three weeks’. Use 24-hour time for administration. Midnight medicine administration should be avoided where possible. Avoid fractions. For example: ‘1/7’ could be interpreted as ‘for one day’, ‘once daily’, ‘for one week’ or ‘once weekly’ ‘1/2’ could be interpreted as ‘half’ or as ‘one to two’. Do not use symbols. Avoid, for example, ‘°2’ to mean ‘every two hours’. Avoid acronyms or abbreviations for medical terms and procedure names on orders or prescriptions. For example, avoid using ‘EBM’ to mean ‘expressed breast milk’. Use words to express numbers of 1,000 or more. For example, say ‘one thousand’ instead of ‘1,000’, and ‘one million’ instead of ‘1,000,000’ or ‘1m’. Otherwise use commas for dosing units at or above 1,000.
Recommendations-for-terminology-abbreviations-and-symbols-used-in-medicines-documentation-December-2016.docx