POSS
Abbreviation with 2 meanings
| Stands for | Pasero Opioid-Induced Sedation Scale |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 2 |
| Categories | Medical, Writing & Everyday |
| Also written | poss. |
POSS has two meanings. It stands for Pasero Opioid-Induced Sedation Scale (patient assessment) or Possessive (grammar and dictionary).
Meanings of POSS at a glance
| # | POSS stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pasero Opioid-Induced Sedation Scale | Medical › Patient Assessment |
| 2 | Possessive | Writing & Everyday › Grammar and Dictionary |
1. Pasero Opioid-Induced Sedation Scale
Medical · Patient Assessment Abbreviations
Nursing tool rating sedation in patients receiving opioids: S (sleeping, easy to arouse), 1 (awake and alert), 2 (slightly drowsy), 3 (frequently drowsy, drifts off mid-conversation) and 4 (somnolent, minimal response). It detects sedation before breathing slows dangerously.
Example: POSS 3 one hour after IV hydromorphone; opioid held, monitoring increased.
Created by nurse Chris Pasero. Levels 3 and 4 are unacceptable and call for holding opioids, reducing doses and closer monitoring. Sedation usually appears before respiratory depression, so checking POSS before every opioid dose is a common safety policy.
2. Possessive (poss.)
Writing & Everyday · Grammar and Dictionary Abbreviations
Labels possessive forms that show ownership or association, such as "John's," "the cat's" or the pronouns "my," "your" and "theirs." It appears in grammars, dictionaries and editing notes.
Example: its (poss. pron.) belonging to it: "The dog wagged its tail."
The possessive "its" takes no apostrophe, unlike the contraction "it's" (it is), a frequent error. Style guides differ on singular names ending in s: Chicago prefers "James's," while AP writes "James'." The English -'s ending descends from the Old English genitive case.
Related abbreviations
More patient assessment abbreviations
- OPQRST – Onset, provocation, quality, region/radiation, severity, time
- P – Pulse
- PAINAD – Pain Assessment in Advanced Dementia
- PEWS – Pediatric Early Warning Score
- PP – Pulse pressure
- PWD – Pink, warm and dry
- RA – Room air
- RASS – Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale
See all 65 patient assessment abbreviations →
More grammar and dictionary abbreviations
- PIE – Proto-Indo-European
- pl. – Plural
- poet. – Poetic
- POS – Part of speech
- pred. – Predicative
- prep. – Preposition
- pres. – Present (tense)
- pron. – Pronoun
See all 93 grammar and dictionary abbreviations →
This entry is for general education and is not medical advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.