Mnemonics, which simply means "memory aid" in Greek, is a quick and significant means to enhance your memorization skills. Unlike acronyms and other means of learning by association, using mnemonics is an effective way to remember hard to retain facts.
A common example is the order of the basic steps for resuscitation: ABCDE (airway, breathing, circulation, drugs, environment). Another example is this rhyme for treating a a person who has fainted: "If the face is red, raise the head. If the face is pale, raise the tail."
FEW EXAMPLES OF MEDICAL MNEMONICS:
Medical Mnemonics for HYPERKALEMIA is "Machine" - Causes of Increased Serum K+
M - Medications - ACE inhibitors, NSAIDS
A - Acidosis - Metabolic and respiratory
C - Cellular destruction - Burns, traumatic injury
H - Hypoaldosteronism, hemolysis
I - Intake - Excesssive
N - Nephrons, renal failure
E - Excretion - Impaired
Medical Mnemonics for Signs and Symptoms of Increased Serum K+ is "Murder"
M - Muscle weakness
U - Urine, oliguria, anuria
R- Respiratory distress
D - Decreased cardiac contractility
E - ECG changes
R - Reflexes, hyperreflexia, or areflexia (flaccid)
Medical Mnemonics for HYPERNATREMIA is "You Are Fried"
F - Fever (low grade), flushed skin
R - Restless (irritable)
I - Increased fluid retention and increased BP
E - Edema (peripheral and pitting)
D - Decreased urinary output, dry mouth
Can also use this one: SALT
S = Skin flushed
A = Agitation
L = Low-grade fever
T = Thirst
Medical mnemonics are very useful especially if you are in the medical field where there are lots of things that needs to be memorized.
Below are websites that I found to have tons of Medical Mnemonics.
Medical Mnemonics.com
This is the queen of all sites - a free, non-profit online searchable database of every single medical mnemonic you can imagine, and them some. What do they have mnemonics for? Everything: anatomy, anesthesiology, behavioral science/psych, biochemistry, biology, cardiology, chemistry, dermatology, embryrology, emergency medicine, epidemiology, gastroenterology, genetics, histology, immunology, internal medicine, family practice, physical assessment, microbiology, neurology/neurosciences, obstetrics/gynecology, orthopedics, pathology, pediatrics, pharmacology, physics, physiology, podiatry, psychiatry, radiology/oncology, rheumatology/allergy, surgery, urology/nephrology.
You can also download the entire thing to print out or save to your hard drive.
http://www.medicalmnemonics.com/cgi-bin/pdf.cfm
MD4Sure.com
Another great resource, MD4Sure.com's has mnemonics concerning the basic sciences, medical conditions, etiologies, signs and symptoms, diagnoses, and therapies that can easily be remembered. They also have a handy list of medical acronyms and shorthand.
NursingHands.com
NursingHands.com has a nice collection of mnemonics covering human anatomy, assessment & diagnostics, nursing interventions, the circulatory system and other miscellaneous mnemonics designed to help nursing students.
RELATED ARTICLES
-Medical Mnemonics Part 1
-Medical Mnemonics Part 2
Article copyright NurseReview.org - #1 source of information to update nurses all over the world. All rights reserved. No part of an article may be reproduced without the prior permission.
