How Good Is Your Nursing Vocabulary?

A gait belt can be used in a lot of situations. Whether a person is being transferred from a bed to a wheelchair, from one bed to another or on any other transfer, it's used to help mobility-impaired patients to get from place to place.

Any time excessive amounts of blood are escaping through non-intact blood vessels, we refer to this as "hemorrhaging." If a person is hemorrhaging internally or externally, the issue must be resolved as quickly as possible.

Most gurneys are made of lightweight materials, including canvas and tubing, that allow medical staff to transport patients from one place to the next. The stretcher's wheels make it an especially convenient choice.

Urine samples are sent to urinalysis labs in order to be tested for a variety of things, including drug use, STDs, diabetes, other metabolic issues, kidney infections and much more.

An abscess is a collection of pus beneath the skin; it can be caused by a number of things and can appear anywhere on the body. They're often painful, although there's not usually any sort of wound associated.

Apnea is a temporary lapse in breathing, often involuntarily during sleep, but also when holding one's breath, choking or any other pause in breathing. Symptoms include snoring, especially when it's notably loud, gasping for air in sleep and dry mouth, and the most obvious symptom is when other people note periods during sleep when the person stops breathing.

Nits are often more easily-detected than lice themselves, as they stay still enough to be seen. The eggs attach to the hair strand itself and take around seven to ten days to hatch.

Patients are placed in the prone position for a number of reasons, including an increase in oxygenation and lung function. The word prone itself comes from the Latin "pronous," which refers to being bent forward.

CPR is the practice of restoring an individual's breath after they've ceased breathing. This involves chest compressions and ventilation ("mouth-to-mouth" or even a mechanical method) and is, as the name suggests, usually employed after a cardiac event.

Often meant with regards to use of a small percussion hammer, "percussion" can happen anywhere on the body that a professional would like to use in order to gauge reflexes or vibrations.

Spasms often happen as a result of tension or poor alignment of weight on certain muscle groups. Most spasms are muscle cramps and therefore harmless, but some can have underlying causes that should be addressed.

Ulcers are open sores, either inside or outside the body, which cause excruciating and gradual destruction of surrounding tissues. It's likely most people are familiar with peptic ulcers, which is a sore located in the stomach lining.

Biopsies are performed by cutting away growths or tissues in order to be tested for causes or roots of illnesses or strange symptoms throughout the body. Common biopsy sites include the liver, lung, bone and breast, though there are many others.

"Voiding" in medical contexts refers to any time some sort of bodily waste is cast out of the body. This includes functions like urination, micturation and eliminating solid waste as well.

A cardiovascular issue is very serious; it directly concerns the heart, blood and vein systems. Cardiovascular issues often call for emergency attention. An example of an ongoing cardiovascular issue is heart disease.

A benign finding in the body poses no real risk to a patient's health; it's unlikely to progress or become dangerous. The word "benign" comes from the Latin word "benignus," meaning "good" and/or "kind."

If a patient (or anything else) is lying on its side or if it moves in an east-west position, it's lateral. Think "Latitude versus longitude"; lines of latitude cut the globe from east to west!

Epilepsy is a disease that's characterized by frequent seizures and convulsions. It's a disorder of the nervous system and can be difficult to predict or control, and it's one of the five most common neurological disorders.

There are many codes that might be used in a hospital, though a few are standard. "Code blue" typically alerts other hospital staff of an emergency involving cardiac or respiratory arrest.

Although it's most commonly referred to as an "IV," an intravenous tube is the device used to administer liquid medications to patients directly into their veins. Infusions use gravity to supply the pressure used to deliver the fluid and are often called "drips," whereas injections use higher-pressured syringes to deliver medication.

Often, we think of medical complications as negative results of surgery or other procedures. They can be fatal, or merely disappointing; either way, complications are a serious part of nursing life.

While ophthalmologists, oncologists and podiatrists are crucial medical professionals, they're specialists and don't typically perform emergency intervention, unlike surgeons. Surgeons can actually specialize in many fields, but emergency medicine does require a general surgeon.

A malignant tumor is one that is cancerous and will likely worsen. Malignant tumors are dangerous in that they metastasize (or spread to other areas), and their cells multiply at faster rates than non-malignant tumors.

"Febrile" is a word used to describe a person suffering from a fever. There is no universal standard for when a person's temperature may be exactly "febrile," but generally it's diagnosed between 99.5 and 100.9 °F.

When a line of sutures is fresh, it's often a good idea to support the seam with a large pillow or towel to prevent any strain on the area and to promote ideal healing. Splints are also often used to immobilize and support broken bones.

Acute diseases only affect patients for brief periods of time before they're gone. They differ from chronic illnesses because they typically leave the body completely soon after they arrive.

If a patient or family member asks for a prognosis, they're asking for information on your team's plan, and they're asking for the chances of recovery. Generally, people will have either a good or bad prognosis.

The regulation of "dangling" is in the practice of helping patients to rise from a sitting or lying position. Asking patients to pause in the sitting (or dangling) position before standing ensures a slow, careful transition.

General anesthesia blocks pain throughout the body for major procedures, unlike local anesthesia, which is contained to one specific part of the body and doesn't cause the patient to lose consciousness, which general anesthesia often does.

An endoscope is a tube-shaped, lighted device used to probe hollow body parts and body cavities; there are loads of varieties of endoscope, including kinds that are rigid (which might be used to examine a joint) and softer (which might be used to examine the colon).

Fowler's position is designed to help the body release tension and to improve airflow through the lungs. It's a generally relaxed and natural position for most patients. There are several types of the position that can be achieved by adjusting the head of the bed's elevation.

When levels are steady at one level, it means they're unchanging. Depending on the context and levels being measured, this may be a positive or negative thing; the word itself means lack of change.

When a person is anemic, their existing red blood cells struggle to capture enough oxygen to keep the body steady; as a result, patients often suffer from shortness of breath, fatigue and general malaise.

If a patient complains of "malaise," their whole body is ailing them. Malaise can be connected to a host of deeper causes, but you can assume from the get-go that patients are feeling thoroughly uncomfortable in their malaise.

The Trendelenburg position is primarily used in surgery situations where the operator needs to access lower portions of the body, including the abdomen and pelvis; it allows for more direct and better access to the these areas.