The Joint Commision - Do Not Use List

The Joint Commission is a regulatory agency that evaluates and accredits healthcare organizations throughout the United States to ensure they meet high standards for patient safety and quality of care. They published a “Do Not Use” list of specific abbreviations, acronyms, symbols, and dose designations that are frequently misconstrued and lead to serious errors.

Accredited organizations must include these items on their internal do-not-use lists.

These should never appear in patient charting or written healthcare communications. Healthcare workers must question any order containing prohibited TJC terminology and ask for order clarification.

U or u - Unit

Per TJC, U can easily be misread as 0, i.e. 4U → 40 (risk of tenfold dosing errors)

Write “unit” instead.

IU - International Unit

Write “international unit” instead.

Q.D., QD, q.d., or qd - Daily or once daily

Write “daily” instead.

Q.O.D., QOD, q.o.d., or qod - Every other day

Write “every other day” instead.

Trailing Zeros after Decimals (X.0)

Write X instead of X.0.

Reason: the decimal point can be missed, causing a tenfold dosing error.

Right: 4 mg

Wrong: 4.0 mg

Lack of Leading Zeros Before Decimals (.X)

Write 0.X instead of .X.

Reason: the decimal can be missed without a zero in front of it, causing a tenfold dosing error.

Right: 0.4 mg

Wrong: .4 mg

MS, MSO4, and MgSO4 - morphine sulphate and magnesium sulfate

Write “morphine sulfate” or “magnesium sulfate” instead.

µg: Symbol for microgram

Write “mcg” or microgram instead.

SC, SQ, sub Q: Subcutaneous

Write “subcutaneous” instead.

D/C: Discharge or discontinue (two distinct meanings)

Write “discharge” or “discontinue” instead.

cc: cubic centimeter, equivalent to 1 mL

Write “mL” or “millimeter” instead.