Post-it Sunday 9/22/24- how the hospital speaks and tells time

The post-it reads “Military time primer. Alphanumeric.”

I am aware that these are two entirely different things.

However, they are how every hospital that I’ve ever worked at communicates. All five of them. Plus the nursing home.

Military time is used so that there is no question as to what is meant by 2 o’clock. Is that morning or afternoon? And do I know that you think it is morning or afternoon?

Well, in military time, that would be 0200 for the morning. And 1400 for the afternoon.

Times in the hospital are mostly for important things like drug administration times. Or surgery times. Or visiting hours. It is important that we mean the same thing.

The best and easiest way to learn military time is to know that it is based on a 24-hour clock. Just like hours in a day. Midnight is 0000, and noon is 1200. What confuses people is anything after noon. All of a sudden we are adding 12 to the hour. 1 pm becomes 1300, 2 pm becomes 1400, 3 pm becomes 1500, and so forth.

The way I’ve taught many people to remember military time is that if it is after noon, just subtract 12 from the number and get the number they are most likely used to seeing. 13=12 is 1 in the afternoon, and 1600-12 is 4 in the afternoon.

I’ve used military time as far back as I can remember. It is second nature to me and how all of my clocks tell time.

Alphanumeric on the other hand is to ensure that a message is not misconstrued.

For example, if you are on the phone with a doctor and they tell you this important heart medication is TID and you heard BID, that can make a patient sick. TID means three times a day and BID means 2 times a day. How often does the patient need the med you begin to ask the doctor. And they’ve already hung up and will yell if you call them back.

The proper way to convey this information is three times a day versus two times a day.

Alphanumeric also is useful when spelling out names of medications or even names of staff or anyone for that matter. M and N sound a lot alike when you are mumbling them into a phone. As do B and T and D. Mike and November sound markedly different. As do Bravo, Tango, and Delta.

It is all about the easiest way to communicate with others in the hospital. Without the possibility of error.

I learned alphanumeric spelling in the Air Force. Because it is how to military communicates as well. Although they love their acronyms as an additional ease in communication too.

As does the hospital.