A nurse is receiving a telephone prescription from a provider for a client who requires additional medication for pain control. Which of the following entries should the nurse make in the medical record?

A. "Morphine 3 mg SQ every 4 hr PRN for pain.": Using the abbreviation "SQ" is discouraged because it can be confused with "SL" (sublingual) or "5Q" (five times a day). Safe documentation requires avoiding ambiguous abbreviations. B. "Morphine 3 mg subcutaneous every 4 hr PRN for pain.": This entry is complete and safe because it includes the medication name, exact dose, route written in full (“subcutaneous”), frequency, and indication. Writing the route in full reduces the risk of misinterpretation. C. "Morphine 3 mg SC q 4 hr PRN for pain.": Abbreviations like "SC" and "q" (every) are considered unsafe according to current Joint Commission guidelines, as they can be misread, making this documentation incomplete or unsafe. D. "Morphine 3.0 mg sub q every 4 hr PRN for pain.": Including a trailing zero after the decimal (3.0 mg) is unsafe because it can lead to tenfold dosing errors if the decimal is missed. The route “sub q” is also an abbreviation that is discouraged.