Medical Terminologies

C

Communication - is commonly defined as "the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech, writing, or signs". Communication can be perceived as a two-way process in which there is an exchange and progression of thoughts, feelings or ideas towards a mutually accepted goal or direction.

N

Nursing - is a healthcare profession focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life from birth to the end of life.

Nursing care - is the application of evidence-based concepts to patient problems in a particular setting.

Nursing care plan - is an outlines the nursing care to be provided to a patient. It is a set of actions the nurse will implement to resolve nursing problems identified by assessment.

Nursing assessment - is the gathering of information about a patient's physiological, psychological, sociological, and spiritual status.

Nursing process - is a process by which nurses deliver care to patients, supported by nursing models or philosophies. The nursing process was originally an adapted form of problem-solving and is classified as a deductive theory.

Nursing process is a patient centered, goal oriented method of caring that provides a frame work to the nursing care.

It involves five major steps of assessement, nursing diagnosis, planning, implementation/intervention and evaluating. A- Assess (what is the situation?) D- Diagnose (what is the problem?) P- Plan (how to fix the problem) I- Implement (putting plan into action) E- Evaluate (did the plan work?) All together equaling ADPIE

Nursing diagnosis - is a standardized statement about the health of a client (who can be an individual, a family, or a community) for the purpose of providing nursing care. Nursing diagnoses are developed based on data obtained during the nursing assessment.

O

Otoscope or auriscope - is a medical device which is used to look into the ears.

Ophthalmoscope (or funduscope) - is an instrument used to examine the eye. Its use is crucial in determining the health of the retina and the vitreous humor.

P

Pulse oximeter - is a medical device that indirectly measures the oxygen saturation of a patient's blood (as opposed to measuring oxygen saturation directly through a blood sample) and changes in blood volume in the skin, producing a photoplethysmograph.

Photoplethysmograph (PPG) - is an optically obtained plethysmograph, a volumetric measurement of an organ. A PPG is often obtained by using a pulse oximeter which illuminates the skin and measures changes in light absorption (Shelley and Shelley, 2001). A conventional pulse oximeter monitors the perfusion of blood to the dermis and subcutaneous tissue of the skin.

Plethysmograph - is an instrument for measuring changes in volume within an organ or whole body (usually resulting from fluctuations in the amount of blood or air it contains).

S

Snellen chart - is an eye chart used by eye care professionals and others to measure visual acuity. Snellen charts are named after the Dutch ophthalmologist Herman Snellen who developed the chart in 1862.

T

Therapeutic communication - is defined as the face-to-face process of interacting that focuses on advancing the physical and emotional well-being of a patient.

This kind of communication has three general purposes:

• collecting information to determine illness
• assessing and modifying behavior
• providing health education.
  

By using therapeutic communication, we attempt to learn as much as we can about the patient in relation to his illness.