I use my iPad mini to write clinical notes on a PDF-reader program. (I should make a separate blog post about how to make your iPad HIPAA compliant.) On the app, I will use iOS dictation to write my notes, but when that’s unavailable, I will use my thumbs on the touch screen.

I’ve gotten lazy about trivial matters like text messaging – I blame aging on this. While it’s aggravating to talk to people that still use “u” and “ur” (I’ve stopped talking to those people), I use several of these keyboard shortcuts now when I text.

I have taken the time to accumulate a library of Clinical Social Work text shortcuts that have saved me time. Hopefully, they’ll save you time, too!

How to Add a Shortcut

On iOS 7 (iPhone and iPad)

• Settings > General > Keyboard > Shortcuts > [+]*

*That’s the plus sign to add a new shortcut

On a MacBook

• Mavericks: System Preferences > Keyboard > Text > [+]*
• *That’s the plus sign to add a new shortcut

Your Shortcuts Will Sync

All keyboard shortcuts will sync across your iDevices that connect to iCloud. If you have an iPad, iPhone, and/or Mac, adding a shortcut on one device syncs up with your other devices if they are connected to the same iCloud account.

The List

This is a list of all of my shortcuts, clinical and not clinical. You will see some with hashtags and that is because I will use my iOS devices to tweet; I like having certain hashtags handy.

appt	appointment
appts	appointments
appx	approximately
apt	apartment
bbl	be back later
bc	because
bx	behavior
brb	be right back
btw	be back later
btwn	between
bx	behavior
bxl	behavioral
bxs	behaviors
chx	change
chxs	changes
cnc	clinical
cx	client
cxs	clients
dx	diagnosis
eg	e.g.
etc	etc.
fc	function
fwd	forward
fwiw	for what it’s worth
fx	frequency
grp	group
hx	history
idk	I don’t know
ie	i.e.
ix	intervention
mgmt	management
msg	message
msgs	messages
mtg	meeting
mtgs	meetings
na	n/a
omw	on my way
ppl	people
ppls	people
psychoeducation	psychoeducation
rpt	report
rpts	reports
rx	prescription
rxs	presriptions
sbux	Starbucks
srs	serious
srsly	seriously
swr	#SocialWork/er
swrs	#SocialWork/ers
swtag	#socialwork
sx	symptom
sxs	symptoms
thx	thanks
tx	treatment
ur	your
ure	you’re
wk	week
wknd	weekend
wks	weeks

 

Pro Tip 1: Punctuation

Unless certain words need to be capitalized (e.g. proper nouns), the shortcut and the word should be entered as lowercase.

A shortcut for a proper noun:

ussw	University School of Social Work

If you type a shortcut with the first letter capitalized, the first letter of the word will be capitalized.

For a shortcut entered as:

cnx

clinician

When the first letter is capitalized, it looks like:

Cnx

Clinician

When all letters are capitalized, the word will also spell out in all caps:

CNX

CLINICIAN

Pro Tip 2: Program a conference hashtag

If you are at a conference and using a hashtag for your tweets and messages, plug in a shortcut in iOS to save time!

swtt

#SWTTalk

Pro Tip 3: Tell iOS to work how you want it to work

If you ever have a pesky time with iOS wanting to autocorrect certain words, you can fix that by programming in those words into your phone.

For Example

alkalinetrio	Alkaline Trio	A band that I like
amiga	amiga	I am telling iOS “don’t fix this”.
amigo	amigo	see above
di	do	“di” autocorrects to “Di” and I don’t want that

 

“Dang Iggy, How’d You Memorize All of these Shortcuts?”

It is because we are in a culture of texting that I often will text to colleagues or supervisors about a client or trivia (see “sbux” above, although, don’t get between me and my coffee). Often, typing things over and over and over again becomes cumbersome and I grow weary. Also, I’ve developed my own…

Clinical Social Work Shorthand

In a session, I will jot down shorthand… it is my very own language that I have developed over the years and that I’ve included above. Sometimes I will need to write a long sentence,

e.g. “cx rpts @ appx 2 wks ago, s/he got into DV fight w/ ex. No srs injury…”
translates into: Client reports that approximately two weeks ago, s/he got into a domestic violence fight with her ex. S/he reports no serious injury…”

Some of these are standard and some are of my own doing (like “chx”, although I prefer a triangle, i.e. delta symbol, to indicate change).

How many shorthand words can you find in my note with my faux-client, A.L.T.?

Programming keyboard shortcuts into my phone helps me tremendously in saving time in Social Work Practice.

I hope it does for you, too!Please share any other shortcuts you think might be handy!