Dictionary

Abbreviations

Abbreviations nurses read and write, with the ones never to use.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

BMTBone marrow transplant: replacing damaged or destroyed bone marrow with healthy blood-forming stem cells.

BSNBachelor of Science in Nursing: a four-year college degree that prepares a person to become a registered nurse.