The nurse reviews an order written by the doctor for a patient with pneumonia. The order is as follows: Levofloxacin 750 mg po qd X1 week. The order is forwarded to the pharmacy and put into the medication administration record (MAR) incorrectly as levofloxacin 750 mg 4 times per day for one week. Of the following, which is the correct way this order should have been written to avoid confusion? 

Explanation

•The correct way to write the order would have been:  Levaquin 750 mg po daily for 7 days.

•The Joint Commission has placed "qd" (once daily) on the "Do Not Use" list because it is often confused with "qid" which means 4 times daily. 

•This confusion could result in a patient getting 4 times more than the intended dose, which could cause severe adverse effects up to and including death.

•Anytime an order has "qd" in it, the nurse should get an order clarification before administering the medication to prevent patient harm. 

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