Dangerous Abbreviations (2023)

FAQs

What makes an abbreviation dangerous? ›

Dangerous abbreviations are also known as "error-prone abbreviations". They are referred to as "dangerous" or "error-prone" because they can lead to misinterpretation of orders and other communications, resulting in patient harm or death.

Q.D. The period after the "Q" has sometimes been mistaken for an " I, " and the drug has been given "QID" (four times daily) rather than daily. Q.O.D.

q.d., q1d - intended to mean "every day" but can be misread as "q.i.d." or 4 times a. day. • q.o.d. - meant "every other day" but the "o" can be interpreted as "." or "i" resulting.

Medical Abbreviations on Your Prescription

“PO” means the medication is taken by mouth “bid” or twice a day.

PO is an abbreviation for Post Office.

For example, the abbreviation qd, which means "daily," could be mistaken for qid, which means "four times a day." It could also be confused for od, which means "right eye." Simply writing "daily" prevents confusion.

q.i.d., qid. An abbreviation meaning “four times a day.” The abbreviation is commonly used in drug dosing instructions.

Conjunction. bt. (Internet slang, text messaging) Abbreviation of but.

What does rx stand for? ›

Rx is commonly known to most as the symbol for a medical prescription. However, the symbol is derived from the Latin word recipe or “recipere,”which means to take. The word was later abbreviated and became Rx as we know it today.

BD. Twice daily (medication frequency)

Cf. is an abbreviation for the Latin word confer, meaning "compare." Cf. is a signal indicating that the cited source supports a different claim (proposition) than the one just made, that it is worthwhile to compare the two claims and assess the difference.

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic skin disease. It causes painful, boil-like lumps that form under the skin. It often affects areas where the skin rubs together, such as your armpits and groin. The lumps become inflamed and painful. They often break open, causing abscesses that drain fluid and pus.

Background and purpose: Blood and infectious body fluid (BBF) exposures are common safety problems for health care workers (HCWs).

best friend (def. 1). Also b.f. Printing. boldface. boyfriend.

Personal Problem. As in, "sounds like a PP to me." Online jargon, also known as text message shorthand, used primarily in texting, online chat, instant messaging, email, blogs, and newsgroup postings, these types of abbreviations are also referred to as chat acronyms.

Explanation: P.O. means Post Office and P.S. means Police Station. This is a part of the address.

The main difference between People Operations (PO) and Human Resources (HR) is that HR is primarily focused on legal compliance, ethics, and the structural organization of employees, whereas people operations is more concerned with results and strategies for employee engagement and effective management.

What is CC in medical? ›

Listen to pronunciation. (KYOO-bik SEN-tih-MEE-ter) A measure of volume in the metric system. One thousand cubic centimeters equal one liter.

In abbreviations such as Dx (diagnosis), Sx (symptom), and Rx (prescription), is there a specific term for the second letter in the abbreviation?

In Latin (and in common usage through my career) 'tds' (ter die sumendus) translates as 'to be taken three times a day' (sumendus = to take). Hence 'tds' should be used for oral medications. 'tid' (ter in die) translates as 'three times daily' and should be used for external medications.

"Got To Go" is the most common definition for GTG on Snapchat, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.

Meaning: An abbreviation for Bad Trip; usually used when one is having a hard time with something, and also as a warning to others to stay away from the person as he/she is, well, having a BT. Usage: Don't bug me man, I'm having a BT. Bazinga!

Bridge and Tunnel (often abbreviated B&T or BNT) is a term – often used pejoratively – to describe people who live in communities surrounding the island of Manhattan in New York City, and commute to it for work or entertainment.

Diagnosis (Dx) is the process of information gathering and clinical reasoning to determine a patient's health problem.

AP: AP is a versatile abbreviation. It serves in cardiology to abbreviate angina pectoris (AP) and arterial pressure (AP). In endocrinology, it stands for the anterior pituitary (AP). And in anatomy, AP means anteroposterior, i.e., from front-to-back.

A prescription, often abbreviated ℞ or Rx, is a formal communication from a physician or other registered health-care professional to a pharmacist, authorizing them to dispense a specific prescription drug for a specific patient.

What is OD in prescription? ›

They are Latin abbreviations: OS (oculus sinister) means the left eye and OD (oculus dextrus) means the right eye.

Id est

Id est / Full name

A condition that lasts for more than 6 months in which a person feels tired most of the time. They may also have trouble concentrating and carrying out daily activities. Other symptoms include sore throat, fever, muscle weakness, headache, and joint pain. Also called chronic fatigue syndrome.

E.g. is used to give one or more possible examples. It's a signal that you're seeing one or a few of multiple possibilities. I.e., on the other hand, clarifies; you are providing more precise information. Where e.g. opens up more options, i.e. narrows them down.

A treatment (Tx) is a medical intervention intended to remediate a health problem, such as a disease or disorder. Also referred to as a therapy, a treatment is usually ordered by a physician as part of a care plan following a diagnosis.

High Capacity. HC. Hepatitis C (disease) HC. Health Center.

Hx (uncountable) (medicine) Abbreviation of history.

BFC. benign febrile convulsion. BFEC. benign focal epilepsy of childhood.

FWB: Full weight-bearing, meaning there are no restrictions to weight-bearing. NWB: Non-Weight Bearing, meaning one should not put any weight on the affected limbs.

In many cases, they can confuse and alienate unfamiliar audiences, and even well-intentioned writers and speakers may overestimate an audience's familiarity with abbreviations. Abbreviations shouldn't be completely avoided, but using them as a default can be problematic.

Why is it important to avoid abbreviations? ›

Letters on their own can mean a lot of different things. By avoiding the use of acronyms and avoiding abbreviating words, the context of the term itself or a phrase becomes much clearer and easier to translate, which in turn will be cheaper for you as it will reduce the number of corrections.

However, one must use abbreviations with caution! Its overuse may in turn reduce readability, especially for a non-technical or non-specialist reader. It may puzzle your readers and force them to flip pages back and forth to locate the original definition, thereby losing interest after a while.

An abbreviation, simply put, is a shortened form of a word. In writing, abbreviations are useful when you need to squeeze a lot of writing into a small space. You can also use them in place of long or cumbersome phrases to make your sentences easier to read.

Abbreviations should only be used if the organization or term appears two or more times in the text. Spell out the full term at its first mention, indicate its abbreviation in parenthesis and use the abbreviation from then on, with the exception of acronyms that would be familiar to most readers, such as MCC and USAID.

Here at the Integrated Public Safety Commission (IPSC), the word "ACROPHOBIA" has taken on a new meaning. Sure, for our tower climbers, it still means "fear of heights." But for the rest of us, it signifies "an irrational fear of an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words." Acronyms everywhere.

An abbreviation, term or symbol used by a prescriber may mean something quite different to the person interpreting the medicine order. Abbreviations that appear unclear, ambiguous or incomplete may be misunderstood, and when combined with other words or numerals may appear as something altogether unintended.

Though acronyms can be very useful, they are only appropriate when the people you're addressing recognize and understand what the abbreviation stands for. To assume they do is not only impolite, but can make the conversation confusing and distract from the discussion.

The “No.” abbreviation actually comes from a symbol meaning “number” (also derived from numero) that depicted a capital N with a miniature O, often as a superscript (Nº). Over time, the signal morphed into a regular N and O.

Use abbreviations sparingly. Only use abbreviations if they are widely known across the broad readership of Cochrane Reviews, are used frequently in a section or throughout the review, or enhance readability. Consider using an abbreviation only if the term has three or more words.

Abbreviations and acronyms are shortened forms of words or phrases. Generally, abbreviations are not acceptable in academic writing (with some exceptions, see below) and acronyms are (providing they are used as shown below).

What are nonstandard abbreviations? ›

In contrast, non-standard abbreviations include those that are highly field specific and those that you have coined for the first time in the manuscript, such as a nickname for an experimental group.

By mouth (per os) po.

The FBI stands for Federal Bureau of Investigation. “Federal” refers to the national government of the United States. “Bureau” is another word for department or division of government.

FBI and CIA are examples of initialisms because they're made up of the first letters of Federal Bureau of Investigation and Central Intelligence Agency, respectively, but they can't be pronounced as words.