Blue pen ink on forms

[ReD]

I could have sworn there was a legal discussion forum, but anyway.

Anyhow, I got some flack for filling out a pt. care report the other day with my blue pen. The hospital I worked at required the docs to use blue ink on the T-sheets. The reasoning is that the forms are printed in black ink on white paper and black pen ink could be missed (especially all those damn check boxes) where as blue is easily seen and photocopies just as well, plus it is easy to tell which is the original. ALSO, everywhere I have been, even on state forms for DL and LP, it states BLACK OR BLUE INK ONLY.

back to the original question, do any of your services not accept blue ink and require black ink only?

What do you think?

[Ridryder 911]

I have never been able to use any other color than black ink in any hospital, EMS in my career. I was informed from medical records that blue ink does not copy as well as black ink.

R/r 911

[akflightmedic]

When I first started, it was black ink due to reasons Rid mentioned.

However it is a non issue as I have not written a report in over 7-8 years now?

Computer charting my friend, ink and paper is so 90s....lol

[TylerHastings]

The one company that I work for that does paper charting still requires bold pen tip and black ink. Other than that the others that I volly for use computer charting which IMO is much better

[ReD]

computer charting which IMO is much better

i agree, but thats a totally different thread LOL

[HellsBells]

I've never ran into a problem using blue ink.

[Dustdevil]

Interesting question! This is an age old controversy that you think would have burned out years ago, yet it still seems to linger, even in the computerised charting age.

Every EMS provider I have ever worked for since the mid 1970's has required that only black ink be used on official documents. As mentioned before, the argument that blue and other colours did not photocopy as well was always the reasoning behind it. There is some amount of technical logic behind that, but it isn't that significant anymore. Photocopiers are much better than they used to be. Still, there are states that make it a crime to fill out a cheque in red ink for that very reason. It doesn't copy well.

Interestingly enough, I have worked in hospitals that would not accept your job application or any other official documentation on the job (lab slips, admission forms, etc...) in other than black ink, however had their nursing shifts charting in blue, red, and green ink to separate the different shifts' notes on the chart. Most hospitals stopped that colour coding thing many years before electronic charting came along though.

I also worked for an EMS provider that required its job applications to be filled out in blue ink for two reasons; first, because it was a test to see if the applicant was reading and following the directions at the top of the page. And second, because since nobody carries a blue pen to a job interview, it forced them to take the application home and fill it out, resulting in a neater and more complete application. Incidentally, that was my idea.

But yeah, it is extremely common for organisations to require that only black ink pen be used for official documentation. I'm surprised that anybody who has had more than one job in their career has not yet run into that.

[brentoli]

Its not just EMS. We get yelled at for using anything other then black ink on NCIC paperwork in dispatch.

[spenac]

I worked one non-EMS job where all paperwork was done in black ink except signatures were in blue ink so no doubt about original signature.

[CBEMT]

Having worked for a private, I much prefer blue- no question as to what I wrote and what I didn't.

I even use blue gel ink just to be an even bigger bastard. :twisted:

As far as regulatory bodies, my state's EMS run forms say "Black or blue ink only."