DATES

Punctuation
• When month, date & year are given in this sequence, set off the year by COMMA. Do not used Ordinals.
D: She was admitted on December 14th 2003 T: She was admitted on December 14, 2003.
• NO COMMA on military date or no year was given.
T: She was admitted in December 2001.
T: She was admitted on 14 December 2001.
• NO punctuation after year if date STAND alone.
T: ADMISSION DATE: April 3, 2000
T:DISCHARGE DATE: APRIL 14, 2000
Ordinals
• Use ordinals when day of month precedes the month us preceded by “THE, Do nor use commas.
• Do not use ordinals in month/day/year format.
T: the 4th of April 2001 not April 4th, 2001
Military Style
• Military style used – day precedes by month
• No ordinals in day/month/year format.
• Use numerals not common.
T: 4 April 2001
T: 4 Apr 2001
In Text
• Preferable to spell out dates used in the body of a report.
• Writing out the name of the month and in using four digits for the year.
T: The patient is previously seen on April 14, 2001.
• When month/day are dictated- as is. add the year only if you are certain.
D: The patient was last seen on April 4th. T: The patient was last seen on April 4, 2003.
• Date used repeatedly – expressed as numerals separated by virgules or hyphens as long as they clearly understood.
T: Electrolytes on April 23, 2001, revealed a sodium of 135, potassium 4.3, bicarbonate 25, chlorides 102. Repeated on 4/35 and again on 4/26. Electrolytes remained within normal limits.
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• Avoid dividing between month and day.