# Why do nurses use "c" for "with"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 16, 2008, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-nurses-use-c-for-with/433718 "2008-01-16T06:34:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-nurses-use-c-for-with/433718/61 "2008-01-20T00:10:16Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] f/u prn. [/QUOTE] I don’t know what this _really_ means, but I’m going to start putting it in my (non-medical) notes at work. Most of my clients need a good “f/u” every now and then! ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-nurses-use-c-for-with/433718/62 "2008-01-20T00:14:56Z")
[QUOTE=Alan Smithee] I don’t know what this _really_ means, but I’m going to start putting it in my (non-medical) notes at work. Most of my clients need a good “f/u” every now and then! [/QUOTE] f/u = follow up prn = as needed ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-nurses-use-c-for-with/433718/63 "2008-01-21T12:53:47Z")
If you do happen to see the notes written in your file, “SOB” just means “short of breath,” it’s not any judgement on your personality or your mama. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-nurses-use-c-for-with/433718/64 "2008-01-21T13:18:46Z")
[QUOTE=brossa] Please justify the use of “[sic]” in your post. [/QUOTE] If you had a Nissen Fundoplication, you’d feel sic too. 😛 Or else the poster meant “yes, there really is such a procedure”. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-nurses-use-c-for-with/433718/65 "2008-01-21T14:02:28Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] Probably something like “S: pt states 3 yrs ago had penile shaft injected c unknown substance by practitioner of dubious credentials to ^ size. Since then, c/o pain c erections only, decreased sensations. Can void urine s problems, no d/c or hx infections. Would like substance removed, nl appearance restored. O: skin of penile shaft diffusely enlarged along entire length, from below glans to mons, c sl pitting on compression, s urethral obst, s skin breakdown, erythema, or d/c. T B desc, s hernias or ing nodes. A & P: s/p cosmetic penile enhancement surgery, no indications for intervention @ present. Pt educ re reconstructive urologist, elective procedure, p d/c from inst. f/u prn.” Notes tend to be fact-based. My fuller thinking was delineated in my thread on the topic: [My patient’s bizarre penis](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=273825') [/QUOTE] Thanks. Jollies fulfilled! ---
**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-nurses-use-c-for-with/433718/66 "2008-01-21T22:29:32Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] If you had a Nissen Fundoplication, you’d feel sic too. 😛 Or else the poster meant “yes, there really is such a procedure”. [/QUOTE] Well, at first I thought that **Sprockets** was objecting to the capitalization of “fundoplication” as being incorrect; one might expect a transcriptionist to be hypersensitive to such issues. But then I was struck by the irony of a professional using a jargony Latin abbreviation (orig. _sicut_) in a thread complaining about professionals using jargony Latin abbreviations. I believe that EVERYTHING in regard to the reader should be accessible to the reader and “directed towards” the reader. I thought that this must be a whoosh on some level, but I wasn’t sure, so I asked about it. ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-nurses-use-c-for-with/433718/67 "2008-01-21T23:50:50Z")
Forget ( / = bar) /c and /s, I want to know why half the medical dictionary is abbreviated with the first-letter + x convention. /c, /s, /a, /p, those I get, and I even know the story behind Rx… but just off the top of my head: Sx, Dx, Tx, Hx, Cx, Fx, Bx, for symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, history, cervix, fracture, and biopsy? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-nurses-use-c-for-with/433718.md?page=3)