There is a lot to learn when you transition from the classroom into the clinical setting. Besides mastering all the medical jargon and knowledge, you also need to understand abbreviations for medical terms!
In this post, I will be sharing some very common abbreviations that you will often see used in the hospital. While this is not comprehensive (many specialties will have their own abbreviations), this list contains the common ones that are applied across multiple specialties. Learning these will make transitioning into the clinical world a bit easier!
p/w: presents with
c/o: complains of
s/p: status post
d/c: discharge
n/v: nausea and vomiting
s/s: signs and symptoms
f/u: follow up
bx: biopsy
dx: diagnosis
fx: fracture
rx: prescription
tx: treatment
QD: every day
BID: 2x per day
TID: 3x per day
QID: 4x per day
PRN: as needed
QH: every hour
Q3H: every 3 hours
STAT: immediately
NPO: nothing by mouth
gtt: drops (IV drip)
OTC: over the counter
VSS: vital signs stable
WNL: within normal limits
NL: normal
ABNL: abnormal
I&O: intake and output
ASA: aspirin
NTG: nitroglycerin
Abx: antibiotics
CHF: congestive heart failure
HTN: hypertension
DM: Diabetes Mellitus
MVA: motor vehicle accident
PNA: pneumonia
PTX: pneumothorax
HA: headache
CA: cancer
CXR: chest x-ray
DOE: dyspnea on exertion
SOB: shortness of breath
DTs: delirium tremens
EOM: extraocular muscles
GCS: Glasgow Coma Scale
US: ultrasound
DNR: do not resuscitate
DNI: do not intubate
M&M: morbidity and mortality
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Great post!!!