[nursefromquebec]

Hi all!

this is my first post here on allnurses

I'm a perinatal nurse working in montreal. I do post partum , antepartum and NICU. I'll be starting a new job in L&D in may. This will be in a new hospital (mainly english speaking). I'm very nervous about starting fresh....

although I am very familiar with LD terms, I'm lost when it comes to english acronyms and abreviations....
can you all list the ones you can think of? this would help out alot!!

thanks

[GingerSue]

hi
here's a source for acronyms and abbreviations:
http://www.acronymfinder.com/
In Kozier (Fundamentals of Nursing: The Nature of Nursing Practice in Canada) on page 461 there is a page full of commonly used abbreviations.

[nursefromquebec]

I saw that website but since I'm on maternity leave right now, I can't think of acronyms to look up...and I never worked with english charts before so it pretty hard to do this off the top of my head.....
thats why I was asking for the most common used ones on LD units

[Elvish]

To begin with, welcome aboard!!!

Here are some abbreviations, but I am sure that others will be able to add on....
EFM - Electronic fetal monitoring
IA - intermittent auscultation (Doppler)
NST - Nonstress test
NC - nuchal cord (this is informal, so may not see it)
FHR - fetal heart rate
vtx - vertex
VE - vacuum extraction; also may see it called VAVD - vacuum assisted vaginal delivery
LGA - large for gestational age
SGA - small for gestational age
AGA - appropriate for gestational age
UC - uterine contractions; have also seen them informally abbreviated as ctx
BTL - bilateral tubal ligation

....this is just a start, but hope it helps. Best of luck in your new job.

[nursefromquebec]

oh this helps alot....thanks so much....I'm writing all these down so I can go over them again before orientation
anyone else?

[Elvish]

C&P - complete & pushing
FF - fundus firm; also
FF @ u - fundus firm @ umbilicus
NSVD - normal spontaneous vaginal delivery; may also see it shortened to SVD
SVE -sterile vaginal exam
SSE - sterile speculum exam
NRFHTs - nonreassuring fetal heart tones

Glad the other ones were helpful; hope these are too!

[bagladyrn]

A couple of others:
AMA - Advanced Maternal Age (or can be Against Medical Advice depending on context)
SO - significant other
FOB - father of baby (not always the SO as we know!)
TOL - trial of labor
VBAC - vaginal birth after cesarean
I know I'll think of lots more - will be back and post them.

[Elvish]

Thanks, baglady. You made me think of some more...
PDI - post dates induction
IOL - induction of labor
ROM - rupture of membranes (AROM - artificial ROM; SROM - spontaneous ROM)
PROM - prolonged OR premature ROM
FWB - fetal well-being

[bagladyrn]

A couple more:
PPROM - prolonged premature rupture of membranes
UDS - urine drug screen - also sometimes written as Tox. Screen or as
DOA - drugs of abuse (lots of terms for this)
One you may hear more than see written - FLK - "funny looking kid" - not a rude comment - basically means there's something not right with this baby but I haven't quite put my finger on what it is yet.
I'll be back with more as they come to me. This is a good topic! Thanks for starting it nursefromquebec

[Elvish]

MVDs - multiple variable decels (I think this is such a silly one)
HELLP - Hemolysis, Elevated Liver enzymes, Low Platelets
GDM - gestational diabetes mellitus
PIH - pregnancy-induced hypertension
PTL - preterm labor
FFN - fetal fibronectin