Medical Abbreviations - Prescription Writing

There is usually so much clinical information to pass on between colleagues that it's probably no surprise to find a multitude of medical abbreviations, medical jargon and shortened terms in everyday use.  You can see why, "quick pass me the defib", makes more sense than,  "quick pass me the defibrillator".  Time is vital in an emergency situation and every second counts.  Or how about "his sats have dropped", instead of "his oxygen saturation has dropped".  Its just so much easier to say.

Learning medical abbreviations can pose a few problems. You only have to look on the internet or in most medical terminology books to find lists as long as your arm. Many abbreviations are used in prescription writing and in the language used when administering drugs or medicine.

so much info, so little room

The process of writing safe and effective prescriptions (scripts) requires a lot of important information such as drug name, drug dosage, frequency of administration, route of administration, start date, and prescriber's name.  Anyone who has seen a hospital drug kardex will know that that they don't leave much room for all of the above information, and if you are the admitting doctor required to write up (prescribe) 15 different drugs, then its understandable why so many abbreviations are used.

The following are the most commonly used:
Stat
From 'statim' meaing 'immediately'.  Stat doses are usually given in emergency situations.   You'll hear this a lot on ER.  "Give him a stat dose of narcan and monitor his breathing".

PRN
From 'pro re nata' meaning 'in the circumstances' or 'as and when required'.  'PRN' prescriptions are forward thinking and proactive.  If a patient is admitted with a condition that has or may develop symptoms such as a fever, nausea, vomiting or pain, nurses are able to give such drugs without asking the doctor to come and write it up.

OD, BD, TDS, QDS
You'll see this collection of abbreviations when referring to the frequency of drug administration.   
OD = Once a day, BD = twice a day, TDS = three times a day, and QDS = four times a day.

PO, PR, PV
These abbreviations refer to the route of drug administration.  PO is said and written when administering tablets, capsules or fluids orally or by mouth.  PR is used when you you need to give an enema or suppository rectally.  PR is also used when a doctor needs to perform a DRE digital (finger) rectal examination.  PV is used when cream or a pessary needs to be given vaginally.

SC, IV, IM,
As with the above this family of abbreviations also refers to the route of drug administration, but only when a needle is involved.  So when the patient needs some form of injection or cannula (venflon) insertion.
SC = subcutaneous, into the fatty tissue below the skin.
IV = intravenous, into a vein.
IM = intramuscular, into a muscle.

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Sick

Can i speak to Huey please?

Nowadays the word 'sick' pops up in many different contexts.  It can get a little confusing, so lets make things absolutely clear regarding it's use in medical English. As a noun 'sick' is 'vomitus', the ejected contents of ones stomach.  Yep, that extra shot of vodka doesn't seem like a good idea now, does it?!  And why are there always carrots in there?  Sorry, i just can't help myself.

A common question is "what's the difference between the expressions 'to be sick' and 'to feel sick'?"  Well to be sick is to vomit, spew, puke, barf, throw up, or talk to Huey on the big white telephone.  Yes i have heard this one used!

To feel sick has 2 clear meanings.  If you feel sick then you feel nauseous, such as if you're having cardiac chest pain, have just sniffed dog poo, have travel or sea sickness (nausea comes from the Greek 'naus' = 'ship').  So you could potentially be about to vomit, which may or may not actually happen.

On the other hand, a patient may say that they feel sick to indicate that they feel generally ill or unwell, so they could have a cold, a headache or non specific symptoms such as fatigue.  The most important point here is that if a patient says "i feel sick", then you should ask them to be more specific about the symptoms they have.

So on a Monday morning when it's time to ring in sick after a heavy weekend on the booze, or because you're simply sick and tired (to be annoyed or disappointed with something) of your dead end job, and your boss, whose continuous flirting with the new secretary makes you sick (to the stomach), asks whats wrong, you should simply reply, "I'm not very well, i'm sick as a dog".  So now you're off sick, on the sick or on sick leave, for which it's a good idea to get a sick note from your doctor to keep your sick boss off your back.