Charting Abbreviations Reference Chart

Nursing in the USA

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Charting Abbreviations

This webpage serves as a reference guide for common medical abbreviations used in healthcare settings. Understanding these abbreviations is essential for efficient and accurate communication in medical records, patient care, and healthcare documentation. This chart will help you decode and utilize these abbreviations effectively.

Definition	Abbreviation
Activities of daily living	ADL
Advanced/basic life support	ALS/BLS
Against medical advice	AMA
Alert and oriented	A&O
Beats per minute	BPM
Bowel movement	BM
cardiovascular	CV
Chest pain	CP
Chief complaint	CC
Complaint of	c/o
Date of birth	DOB
diagnosis	Dx
Differential diagnosis	DDx
Discharge or discontinue	D/C
Do not resuscitate	DNR
due to	d/t
Dyspnea on exertion	DOE
Estimated blood loss	EBL
follow up	f/u
Foreign body	FB
Fracture	Fx
gastrointestinal	GI
Gunshot wound	GSW
History and physical	H&P
History of	h/o
History of present illness	HPI
Ideal body weight	IBW
immediately	STAT
Infectious disease	ID
Input and output	I&O
Keep vein open (IV fluids)	KVO
level of consciousness	LOC
Medical decision making	MDM
Motor vehicle accident	MVA
No acute distress	NAD
No known allergies	NKA
No known drug allergies	NKDA
post op day	POD
range of motion	ROM
related to	r/t
Review of symptoms	ROS
Risk factors	RF
Room Air	RA
rule out	r/o
Shortness of breath	SOB
signs and symptoms	S/S
Status post	s/p
surgery	Sx
symptoms	sx
treatment	Tx
Urine output	UOP
wheel chair	WC
Within normal limits	WNL
workup	w/u