Abbreviations

The Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation, which writes consensus standards for the safe use and processing of medical devices.

A shortened form of a word or phrase, such as NPO for nothing by mouth or BP for blood pressure.

A memory aid with two common uses: the warning signs of melanoma in a mole, and the order of the first check of a seriously ill or injured client.

Airway, breathing and circulation: a way of ranking a client's needs in that order.

A large, thick, padded dressing, its name short for abdominal, used as the absorbent layer over wounds that drain heavily.

Removal of the leg through the thigh, with the femur cut above the knee joint; abbreviated AKA.

An abbreviation with several meanings, such as angiotensin-converting enzyme or adverse childhood experiences; the setting shows which.

Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support: the American Heart Association's guidelines and course for treating cardiac arrest and other heart emergencies.

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists: the US professional organization of doctors who care for pregnancy and women's health.

Advance care planning: talking about and writing down the care a person would want if they could no longer speak for themselves.

An abbreviation for the American College of Radiology or the American College of Rheumatology; in lab reports, albumin-to-creatinine ratio.

A word formed from the first letters of a group of words, such as HIPAA or SBAR.

An abbreviation that has been used for right ear, and also for Alzheimer disease and advance directive.

As much or as often as the client wants; written in orders, from the Latin ad libitum.

An abbreviation with several meanings, most often the Americans with Disabilities Act or the American Diabetes Association.

Associate Degree in Nursing: a two- to three-year college degree that prepares graduates to take the NCLEX-RN.

Assessment, Diagnosis, Outcomes identification, Planning, Implementation, Evaluation: a memory aid for the steps of the nursing process.

Adenosine diphosphate: the molecule left when ATP gives up one phosphate to release energy in a cell.

Acknowledge, Introduce, Duration, Explanation, Thank you: a memory aid for how to greet and inform a client.

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome: the most advanced stage of HIV infection, when the immune system is badly damaged.

As low as reasonably achievable: the rule that every radiation exposure must be justified and kept as small as it can be.

Electric current that flows back and forth, reversing its direction many times a second, as from a wall outlet.

An abbreviation with more than one meaning, most often altered mental status or acute mountain sickness; the setting shows which.

The Association of periOperative Registered Nurses, the professional organization of OR nurses, which publishes perioperative practice guidelines.

An abbreviation with several meanings, such as apical pulse, anteroposterior or assistive personnel.

An abbreviation for acetaminophen; ISMP advises writing the full drug name.

The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, an international organization for infection prevention.

An abbreviation with more than one meaning, most often aortic regurgitation or allergic rhinitis; the setting shows which.

The Accreditation Review Council on Education in Surgical Technology and Surgical Assisting, which reviews programs and recommends them to CAAHEP.

An abbreviation with more than one meaning, such as acute renal failure, acute respiratory failure or acute rheumatic fever.

A short form for the left ear, from the Latin auris sinistra.

The American Society of Anesthesiologists' grading of a patient's health before surgery, from ASA 1 (healthy) to ASA 6 (brain dead, organ donor).

An abbreviation with several meanings, most often autism spectrum disorder or atrial septal defect.

The Association of Surgical Technologists, the national professional organization for surgical technologists in the United States.

Adenosine triphosphate: the molecule that stores and delivers energy for nearly every process in a cell.

Adenosine triphosphatase: an enzyme that breaks down ATP to release energy the cell uses.

Each ear (both ears): an old Latin dosing abbreviation, auris utraque, that should not be used.

A machine that pumps detergent, disinfectant and rinse water through every channel of a flexible endoscope on a timed, recorded cycle.

A quick scale for level of consciousness: Alert, responds to Voice, responds to Pain, or Unresponsive.

An old abbreviation for zidovudine, an HIV drug; it should not be used because it can be misread as other drugs.

An abbreviation with several meanings; most often Bachelor of Arts, and in clinical notes terms such as basilar artery.

The energy the body uses just to stay alive, measured while a person is awake, lying quietly at rest and fasting.

Bacille Calmette-Guérin: a live, weakened bacterium used as a tuberculosis vaccine and as a bladder cancer treatment.

Twice a day: a dosing abbreviation from the Latin bis die, used mainly outside the United States.

A timing direction for a medicine or test: give it before eating, often about 30 minutes before a meal.

A test holding live bacterial spores that are hard to kill, run through a sterilizer and then incubated to show whether the cycle killed them.

Bilevel positive airway pressure: breathing support through a mask that gives one pressure on breathing in and a lower one on breathing out.

A number from 0 to 100, read by sensors on the forehead, that shows how deeply the brain is anesthetized; about 40 to 60 is the usual target.

An abbreviation for "twice a week" that ISMP advises against; write "2 times weekly."

Body mass index: a number worked out from a person's weight and height that sorts weight into categories.