Medical Abbreviations Quiz
Twenty questions on the shorthand used in hospitals and GP notes, easy to hard, ending with the abbreviations that cause medication errors. Australian usage. Tap an answer to see if you’re right.
Question 1 of 20
What does BP stand for?
- Breathing pattern
- Body position
- Blood pressure
- Bowel problem
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Answer: Blood pressure. Written as two numbers, like 120/80: systolic over diastolic.
Question 2 of 20
What does HR stand for?
- Heart rate
- Hospital record
- High risk
- Hormone replacement
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Answer: Heart rate. Beats per minute.
Question 3 of 20
On a medication chart, what does PRN mean?
- By mouth
- As needed
- Before meals
- Every morning
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Answer: As needed. From Latin pro re nata, ‘for the occasion’.
Question 4 of 20
What does BD mean on a prescription?
- Before dinner
- At bedtime
- Every second day
- Twice a day
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Answer: Twice a day. From Latin bis die. In the US you’ll often see BID.
Question 5 of 20
What does NBM mean?
- No bowel motion
- Normal blood marker
- Nil by mouth
- Not before midnight
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Answer: Nil by mouth. Nothing to eat or drink, usually before surgery. The US uses NPO.
Question 6 of 20
What does SOB mean in medical notes?
- Sense of balance
- Short of breath
- Start of bleeding
- Side of bed
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Answer: Short of breath. Also written as SOBOE: short of breath on exertion.
Question 7 of 20
What does a hash sign (#) mean in medical notes?
- Fracture
- Hospital admission
- Number of tablets
- Pain score
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Answer: Fracture. A ‘# NOF’ is a fractured neck of femur, a broken hip.
Question 8 of 20
What does IV stand for?
- Intensive ventilation
- Intravascular volume
- Internal valve
- Intravenous
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Answer: Intravenous. Into a vein. IM is intramuscular; SC or subcut is under the skin.
Question 9 of 20
What does TDS mean on a prescription?
- Three days only
- Every three days
- Twice daily
- Three times a day
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Answer: Three times a day. From Latin ter die sumendum. QID is four times a day.
Question 10 of 20
What does ‘nocte’ mean on a chart?
- At night
- With food
- Not to be given
- In the morning
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Answer: At night. Mane is morning, nocte is night.
Question 11 of 20
What does GCS stand for?
- Gastric content sample
- Grade of chest sounds
- Glasgow Coma Scale
- General clinical score
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Answer: Glasgow Coma Scale. Scores eyes, speech and movement from 3 (deeply unconscious) to 15 (fully alert).
Question 12 of 20
What does COPD stand for?
- Chest obstruction post-discharge
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- Chronic oxygen perfusion deficit
- Cardiac output pressure drop
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Answer: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Long-term lung disease, usually from smoking, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
Question 13 of 20
What does NAD mean in examination notes?
- Not a diagnosis
- Nausea and dizziness
- No abnormality detected
- No acute distress only
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Answer: No abnormality detected. Doctors joke it sometimes means ‘not actually done’. It shouldn’t.
Question 14 of 20
What does ‘Hx’ mean?
- History
- Hypoxia
- Heart sounds
- Hospital transfer
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Answer: History. Similar shorthand: Dx diagnosis, Rx treatment, Sx symptoms, Ix investigations.
Question 15 of 20
What does PERLA stand for?
- Pain eased, rest, lie and assess
- Pupils equal and reactive to light and accommodation
- Pulse even, rate lower than average
- Patient examined, reflexes look absent
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Answer: Pupils equal and reactive to light and accommodation. A quick neurological eye check.
Question 16 of 20
In Australian hospitals, what does NFR on a chart usually mean?
- No fever recorded
- Needs further review
- Nil fluid restriction
- Not for resuscitation
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Answer: Not for resuscitation. The patient won’t get CPR if their heart stops. Other care continues.
Question 17 of 20
What does ROSC mean in a resuscitation?
- Return of spontaneous circulation
- Rescue oxygen supply cylinder
- Rate of shock compression
- Rhythm on screen check
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Answer: Return of spontaneous circulation. The heart is beating on its own again, with a pulse.
Question 18 of 20
Why should ‘U’ never be used for ‘units’ on a chart?
- Pharmacists don’t stock units
- It can be misread as 0 or 4, causing an overdose
- It means urine
- It’s American
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Answer: It can be misread as 0 or 4, causing an overdose. ‘10U’ of insulin can be read as 100. Australian charting rules say to write ‘units’ in full.
Question 19 of 20
Why is ‘µg’ for micrograms discouraged?
- It isn’t a real unit
- It’s too long
- It can be misread as mg, a thousandfold error
- It means milligrams per gram
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Answer: It can be misread as mg, a thousandfold error. Write ‘microgram’ in full, or ‘mcg’ where allowed.
Question 20 of 20
Why shouldn’t a dose be written as ‘5.0 mg’?
- It’s too precise
- It means 5 tablets
- Decimals aren’t allowed on charts
- The decimal point can be missed, so it’s read as 50 mg
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Answer: The decimal point can be missed, so it’s read as 50 mg. Never use a trailing zero (5 mg, not 5.0 mg), but always use a leading zero (0.5 mg, not .5 mg).
Like medical words? Try the medical terminology quiz or play Morphemia, our daily word game.
Common questions
What are the most common medical abbreviations?
BP (blood pressure), HR (heart rate), PRN (as needed), BD (twice a day), TDS (three times a day), NBM (nil by mouth), SOB (short of breath), # (fracture), Hx (history), Dx (diagnosis) and Rx (treatment).
Which medical abbreviations are dangerous?
Australia’s national charting recommendations advise against ‘U’ for units, ‘µg’ for micrograms, trailing zeros (5.0) and missing leading zeros (.5), among others, because they cause medication errors.