Dictionary

Abbreviations

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

MAMedical assistant: a trained worker in clinics and offices who does clinical and office tasks under a provider's direction.

mcgMicrogram: one millionth of a gram, or one thousandth of a milligram.

mEqMilliequivalent: a unit for the amount of an electrolyte, based on its electrical charge.

mgMilligram: one thousandth of a gram.

mg/dLMilligrams per deciliter: a unit that shows how much of a substance is in one tenth of a liter of blood or fluid.

MgSO4The chemical shorthand for magnesium sulfate, banned from medication orders by the Joint Commission.

MHAn abbreviation with more than one meaning, most often mental health or malignant hyperthermia; the setting shows which.

MHCMajor histocompatibility complex: a group of genes that make the markers cells use to show the immune system what is self and what is not.

MIAn abbreviation most often meaning myocardial infarction (heart attack); it can also mean mitral insufficiency or motivational interviewing.

mL/hrMilliliters per hour: the unit for how fast an IV fluid, infusion or tube feeding runs.

mm HgMillimeters of mercury: the unit used to measure blood pressure and the pressure of gases in the blood.

mmolMillimole: a unit for an amount of a substance, often given per liter of blood (mmol/L) in lab results.

mOsmMilliosmole: a unit for the number of dissolved particles in a fluid, used for osmolality.

MRAAn abbreviation with two meanings: magnetic resonance angiography, or mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist.

mRNAMessenger RNA: a molecule that carries a gene's instructions from DNA to the parts of the cell that build proteins.

MRSAMethicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a staph bacterium that many common antibiotics cannot kill.

MSAn abbreviation that can stand for morphine sulfate, magnesium sulfate or multiple sclerosis.

MSO4The shorthand for morphine sulfate, banned from medication orders by the Joint Commission.

MSTMilitary sexual trauma: sexual assault or repeated sexual harassment that happened during military service.

MTXAn abbreviation for methotrexate; ISMP advises writing the full drug name.

MVAMotor vehicle accident: a crash involving a car, truck or other road vehicle.

µmol/LMicromoles per liter: a unit for how much of a substance is in a liter of fluid, used on many lab reports.