Recommendations for safe use of medicines terminology
This document is a revision of the Recommendations for terminology, abbreviations and symbols used in medicines documentation (2016). The revision is based on reported adverse events and international trends in error-prone abbreviations and informed by a Rapid literature review (2023).
This document promotes and sets out principles for safe, clear and consistent terminology for medicines, along with safe terms, abbreviations and dose designations for medicines. This includes all handwritten, pre-printed or electronically generated or displayed medicine-related resources used in Australian hospitals or health services, as well as verbal communications.
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