PCN (penicillin)
PCN is shorthand for penicillin, the antibiotic. In a medical record it is often part of an allergy entry, as in “PCN allergy”.
How to read it
Charleston Area Medical Center and California Correctional Health Care Services both list PCN as penicillin in their approved abbreviations for medical records. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says about 10% of US patients report having had an allergic reaction to a penicillin-class antibiotic, but fewer than 1% are truly allergic. It lists viral rashes in the past, a family history of penicillin allergy and intolerance of an antibiotic (diarrhoea, for example) as reasons a record can carry an inaccurate penicillin allergy label.
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These pages explain what medical abbreviations and symbols stand for. They are not medical advice and give no doses: a pharmacist or prescriber can explain what any label means for you.
Drug names on the error-prone list
The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) recommends against abbreviating drug names at all: its list of error-prone abbreviations says “do not abbreviate drug names when communicating medical information” and recommends the complete drug name instead. PCN is not one of the examples it names, which include APAP for acetaminophen. ASA for aspirin is another drug-name abbreviation that falls under the same recommendation.
Other allergy shorthand
An allergy list may say NKDA, “no known drug allergies” (MedlinePlus and Charleston Area Medical Center), or NKA, “no known allergies” (Charleston Area Medical Center).
More medical chart abbreviations
Browse symbols drawn with letters and numbers or squares and rectangles.
Sources
- Abbreviations Approved for Medical Records, Charleston Area Medical Center, N; P
- Approved Abbreviations, Clinical 2022, Health Care Department Operations Manual, California Correctional Health Care Services, P
- Clinical Features of Penicillin Allergy, Antibiotic Prescribing and Use, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Overview; Penicillin allergy labels
- ISMP's List of Error-Prone Abbreviations, Symbols, and Dose Designations, 2015 edition, Institute for Safe Medication Practices, Drug name abbreviations
- Appendix B: Some Common Abbreviations, MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine, N
Last reviewed September 30, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research