Common Medical Abbreviations/Symbols

emtfarva said:
PE: is physical exam
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or Physical Education
or Pulmonary Edema
or Pulmonary Emboli
or or or or

No short cuts unless on approved list for your service and the hospitals you transport to. Otherwise spell it out to avoid harm to patients.
 
medic417 said:
or Physical Education
or Pulmonary Edema
or Pulmonary Emboli
or or or or

No short cuts unless on approved list for your service and the hospitals you transport to. Otherwise spell it out to avoid harm to patients.
Click to expand...
No you didn't get it PE:

PE means what you said
 
I'm wondering when medical directors and such are going to start yanking all the abbreviations that JACHO has banned in the last few years. After all, our paperwork is being kept as part of the patients hospital record.
 
Aidey said:
I'm wondering when medical directors and such are going to start yanking all the abbreviations that JACHO has banned in the last few years. After all, our paperwork is being kept as part of the patients hospital record.
Click to expand...

The controversial abbreviations for hospitals and clinics were changed several years ago. Unless the service is hospital based, JCAHO probably will have little to say about what EMS does. Unfortunately, some of the abbreviations used are only known to EMS and their meanings are not passed on to the hospital. Some also believe that being EMS they are vastly different so the abbreviations are different but yes, many complain when no one reads what they write.

Each profession has their own "speak" and terminology but when a section of the chart is to be read by all, the terminology will be standard or spelled out clearly.
 
I know JACHO has no official say, but since most medical directors work in hospitals I could see them eliminating some of the banned abbreviations just because the hospital they work in has done it.

With the advent of electronic medical records, and many places now typing their initial patient care report I think many abbreviations will stop being used simply because you can't type them on a computer without a special index of symbols.
 
I would not advise Medical Directors to make the abbreviations listing. I see very poor documentation on most physicians charting. Most do not use abbreviations as they make more of notations and dictations not actually writing into charts.

I have physicians all the time ask me what common abbreviations are when reading charts.

There are some common abbreviations that have went to waste side for safety sake. Yes, pushed by JCAHO but also from Pharmacy boards, etc. One in particular is M.S. is no longer recommended because of possibly misinterpretation ...
 
Also you can use BGL - Blood Glucose Level insted of BS-Blood Sugar.

I stick to using BGL insted of BS because BS to me = Breath Sounds.

Just a idea.
 
medic417 said:
No short cuts unless on approved list for your service and the hospitals you transport to. Otherwise spell it out to avoid harm to patients.
Click to expand...

Hehe, that's why I laughed at everyone at my old company that would use D/S for "draw sheet." See, D/S was on the official list of acronyms. It was just on there as dextrose-stick, not draw sheet.
 
LAS46 said:
Also you can use BGL - Blood Glucose Level insted of BS-Blood Sugar.

I stick to using BGL insted of BS because BS to me = Breath Sounds.

Just a idea.
Click to expand...

CBG works for the same thing as BGL...
 
We have never used CBG for anything! This is exactly why there is no need for abbreviations!
 
I dont know if this was already covered, but,

DM for Diabetes Mellitus
DI for Diabetes Insipidus
IDDM for Insulin Dependent DM

CAD- Coronary artery disease
 
Since going to court a few times I write everything out,to much confusuin, as you know no in a courtroom likes confusion especially the DA. So I spell it all out, no biggie.
 
Spell it out.

I was puzzled to see a symbol handdrawn in the corner of the front cover of a bunch of medical records at work, something like the letter "o" around a period....When they found out this was comparing the pt's behavior to a rectum, they went and slapped stickers over them and reprimanded the nurse who was doing it.
I have to say they were pretty on-target, though.
 
emtfarva said:
PE: is physical exam
Click to expand...
medic417 said:
or Physical Education
or Pulmonary Edema
or Pulmonary Emboli
or or or or...
Click to expand...
A few years ago, a female friend of mine, in the middle of a discussion of her career, suddenly proclaimed that she was going for her PE next week. I was more than a little dumfounded that she would be telling me about her upcoming pelvic exam, so I chuckled nervously and replied, "Uhhh... thanks for sharing. I guess."

Turns out she was talking about taking the Professional Engineer licensure examination.

417 is correct. Write it out. Nobody is impressed by your ability to string letters together. It doesn't make you sound like you have more than 120 hours of night school first aid training. It just makes you sound like someone trying to sound like they know more than they do.
 
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