OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the influence of the writing of medical orders on the administration of medications in medical units from five brazilian hospitals. METHODS: This descriptive study used a secondary analysis of data from a multicenter study conducted in 2005. the sample consisted of 1,084 medication orders that had been administered at the wrong schedule time. RESULTS: The great majority of medical orders (96.2%) had acronyms and/or abbreviations, 7.8% of them had incomplete schedules for administration of the medication, and 4.8% had been marked out. in addition, there was no schedule for the administration of the medication in 1.9% of the medical orders. CONCLUSION: Implementation of electronic prescribing and continuing education of health care providers can minimize the administration of medication at the wrong schedule time.
Medication errors; Drug prescriptions; Nursing records; Medical records
