What it means
A safety step for verbal and telephone orders and for critical test results given by phone. The receiver writes the full message, reads it back aloud, and the sender confirms it is correct. Look-alike and sound-alike drug names and numbers like "fifteen" and "fifty" can be spelled out or said digit by digit.
For the nurse
Write the order or result down before reading it back; repeating from memory is not enough. Record that it was read back and confirmed.
In a chart
"Telephone order received from Dr. Lee, written and read back, confirmed."
At a glance
| Also written | read back, read-back verification, repeat back |
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Related terms
handoff report
The passing of information and responsibility for a client's care from one nurse or team to another.
look-alike sound-alike
Describes drug names that look or sound similar to other drug names and so are easily confused.