The Joint Commission has instituted a National Patient Safety Goal related to the use of dangerous abbreviations. Abbreviations and symbols can be easily misread or misinterpreted leading to medication errors. In order to avoid the risk of these potential errors, we request that you refrain from using the following list of unsafe abbreviations.

• Do not use "u" or "iu." Spell out "units" and "international units."
• Do not use "qd," "qid" or "qod." Spell out every day, four times daily, and every other day.
• Do not use the abbreviation "DC." Write out the words "Discharge" and "Discontinue."
• Do not use µg for microgram. Write "mcg."
• Do not use "MS," "MSO4," or "MgSO4." Write "Morphine Sulfate" or "Magnesium Sulfate."
• Use leading zeros before a decimal point, e.g. 0.2mg.
• Do not use trailing zeros, e.g. do not write 2.0 mg.
• Use space between drug name, dose and unit of measure, e.g., "Inderal 40 mg." Written as "Inderal40 mg" can be read as "Inderal 140 mg."
• Spell out the word "at." Avoid using the symbol "@."