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ment responsibilities, about the inconsistencies of manufacturer dating, and to
work to standardize the dates in your storage area.
This label contains 2 of
what are now considered
"dangerous abbreviations."
Can you spot them?
___________ ___________
Answer
: "cc" is best written as "ml" and ".5" is best written as "0.5."
As the ISMP points out, when written quickly by hand, "cc" can be mistaken for
"u" and misunderstood as units, or worse, zeros. Additionally, dropping the lead
zero in dosing documentation is a common and very avoidable root cause of
errors that can lead to a 10-fold overdose, since ".5" can easily be mistaken for
"5." Similarly, don't use a trailing zero, since, for example, "10.0" may be misread
as "100," which could also result in a 10-fold overdose.
Propofol vials are always for single-patient use only.
a.
true
b.
false
Answer
: a
There's been a lot of pushback over the years because if you open a propofol
vial that contains 200 mg and you use only 20 mg, it's troubling to discard the
other 180 mg. But that's the standard. To avoid wasting expensive and scarce
medications, consider purchasing agents in volumes closest to their usual
usage patterns. Propofol has recently become available in 10-ml vials, to go
along with 20- and 50-ml vials. Additionally, larger volumes may be available
for infusion purposes in hospital settings. The 10-ml option will be advanta-
geous for small dosing needs such as in ophthalmology, and might have pre-
M E D I C A T I O N S A F E T Y
