If you want to further your education in a healthcare-related position such as medical assisting, nursing or dental assisting, there is a lot your are going to have to master. While medical assisting classes can help you gain the practical experience you need to enter the field, it can never hurt to start doing some training on your own.
You may not be able to start practicing on patients or memorizing the parts of the body without some training, but you can start to master the common abbreviations used in most healthcare-related careers.
Abbreviations are used in healthcare settings to make record-keeping more efficient and to create a more universal language among healthcare providers. To eliminate miscommunication and to speed things up, abbreviations have become a major part of the healthcare field. Some of the common terminology will probably be things youve heard before, either on television or in past appointments you have had as a patient, but knowing what they stand for will help you set yourself apart in your healthcare classes and in your eventual career.
Just some of the most common abbreviations and acronyms used in the healthcare field include:
ADL Activities of daily living
AED Automated external defibrillator
BP Blood pressure
Bx Biopsy
CPR - Cardiopulmonary resuscitation
DNR - Do not resuscitate
DOA Dead on arrival
Dx Diagnosis
ECG Electrocardiogram
EMS - Emergency medical services
ENT Ears, nose and throat
FUO - Fever of unknown origin
Hb, Hgb Hemoglobin
ICU Intensive care unit
IV Intravenous
LP Lumbar puncture
MRI Magnetic resonance imaging
PRN As needed
Rx Treatment
YOB Year of birth
Want to learn even more abbreviations used in a registered nursing program, pharmacy technician training program, or
medical assisting degree program? Thanks to technology, you can download apps right to your phone that can help you master healthcare abbreviations.
Or, you can start to pursue a variety of different
healthcare degrees at a quality school near you!
