ie

avoid where possible but otherwise no full stop; ie like this

immune to

not immune from

impacts on

avoid, when you mean “affects”

income support

lower case

infection control

lower case. Or do you mean infection prevention?

information technology

spell out at first mention, then IT

infrared

one word

inpatient, outpatient

one word

inquiry

see enquiry

in situ

italicise

International Council of Nurses

spell out at first mention, then ICN

internet

lower case

Irish Travellers

capped up; recognised ethnic group under race relations legislation

-ise

use -ise rather than -ize at the end of a word – maximise, minimise

Islam

the holy book of Islam is the Qur’an, not the Koran

italics

if you are writing for print then italicise:

• titles of media (books, journals, newspapers, plays, films, government green and white papers), including the RCN’s own publications
• non-English words, unless they are so familiar they have become anglicised – status quo, ad hoc

Do not use italics for:

• book chapters or magazine articles, which should be in double quote marks
• statutes – eg the Children Act 2004.

Avoid overuse of italics especially when writing web content – they are harder to read on screen. So no blocks of italicised text but okay to italicise short media titles

it’s

shortened form of it is; it’s a very good hospital

its

denotes possessive; the hospital deserves its praise

ITU

intensive treatment unit; seems to be interchangeable with ICU, but be consistent

IV

intravenous, but no need to spell out