It is a common belief that doctors have terrible handwriting, and yet it has some basis in fact. Since many physicians work at a fast pace, they may scribble down information that is hard for most people to read. The problem is that sometimes doctors can also write down prescription drug names in poor handwriting.
If a doctor cannot clearly spell out drug information, it can have dangerous implications for the patient, who could receive the wrong drug or the wrong dosage of a correct drug. A serious health problem or even death may result. The National Center for Biotechnology Information website details how poor handwriting may result in serious drug errors.
How poor handwriting causes problems
There is a common chain of events from a patient visiting a doctor to the patient receiving prescription medicine. The chain of events involves a doctor diagnosing the condition of the patient and deciding which drug to prescribe. The doctor writes that drug down on a prescription order. The pharmacist receives the order and uses it to dispense the medicine to the patient.
If the handwriting on the order is poor, problems can happen throughout the chain. The patient may mistake the drug name on the order for another drug. The pharmacist may feel confused and take a guess in filling the order. And if a medical emergency occurs, a nurse or another doctor may have no opportunity to confirm the drug that the original doctor had prescribed.
Ways hospitals minimize handwriting errors
Hospitals have taken steps to minimize the risk of drug errors through poor handwriting. Electronic records do a lot to help since the lettering is in typed form. If there is a handwritten order that is hard to read, a hospital may require the pharmacist or a practitioner to contact the original physician and ask what the drug name really is. In spite of these efforts, some people remain the victim of drug errors because of misunderstood drug names, wrong drug dosages or incorrect frequency of dosages, making vigilance for possible medication errors crucial.
