Nursing Glossary
Nursing Glossary
20 terms
Nurses work to promote health, prevent disease, and help patients with illnesses. When treating a patient, they observe, assess, and record symptoms, reactions, and progress. Nurses work alongside doctors when it comes to treatment plans and exams, administering medications, and monitoring patient recovery.
- analgesic
- (of a drug) acting to relieve pain.
- asystole
- Is when your heart’s electrical system fails, causing your heart to stop pumping.
- bandage
- A strip of material used to bind a wound or to protect an injured part of the body.
- catheter
- A flexible tube inserted through a narrow opening into a body cavity, particularly the bladder, for removing fluid.
- glucometer
- A device for measuring the concentration of glucose in the blood.
- infection
- The process of infecting or the state of being infected.
- injection
- An instance of injecting or being injected.
- insulin
- A hormone produced in the pancreas by the islets of Langerhans, which regulates the amount of glucose in the blood. The lack of insulin causes a form of diabetes.
- isolation
- The state of being in a place or situation that is separated from others : the condition of being isolated.
- mask
- A covering worn over the mouth and nose in order to reduce the transmission of infectious agents, or to prevent the inhalation of pollutants and other harmful substances.
- nitroglycerin
- Is a type of nitrate that comes in a tablet form. It prevents and treats chest pain by relaxing your blood vessels. You should take this medication at the first sign of chest pain or tightness.
- pain
- Physical suffering or discomfort caused by illness or injury.
- palliative care
- A specialized medical care to people living with a serious illness. This type of care is focused on providing relief from the symptoms and stress of the illness.
- patient
- A person receiving or registered to receive medical treatment.
- STAT
- A common medical abbreviation for urgent or rush.
- sterile field
- An area created by aseptic drapes and maintained as free from microorganisms as possible, to reduce the risk of infection.
- stethoscope
- A medical instrument for listening to the action of someone's heart or breathing, typically having a small disk-shaped resonator that is placed against the chest, and two tubes connected to earpieces.
- tachycardia
- It's the medical term for a heart rate over 100 beats a minute.
- take the report
- To give a description of something or information about it to someone.
- vital signs
- The measurements of the body's most basic functions. Body temperature, pulse rate, respiration rate, blood pressure and oxygen saturation.