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A crossed-out cup or spoon, instructing that a patient must not eat or drink.
Also known as: NBM, Nothing by mouth, NPO
A cup or spoon struck through by a diagonal bar means the patient must take nothing by mouth — no food, no drink, often not even water. It appears above a hospital bed before surgery, where the instruction has to be readable at a glance by anyone passing.
Instructs that the patient must not take food or fluid by mouth, most often before surgery or a procedure requiring sedation.
Contexts: Medicine
The prohibition is not always absolute — sips of water with medication may be allowed — so the sign marks a rule whose exact terms are in the patient's notes.
A cup or spoon in outline, crossed by a single diagonal bar running from upper left to lower right.
Both are instructions to clinical staff about what a patient may receive.