What it means
In hospital notes, AMS usually means altered mental status: any change from the person's usual awareness, thinking or behavior, from confusion to unresponsiveness. In travel and wilderness medicine, it means acute mountain sickness, the headache, nausea and tiredness that can come with going to a high altitude too fast. Read it in context.
For the nurse
For altered mental status, check the airway, vital signs, oxygen saturation and blood glucose, compare with the client's baseline, and report it promptly.
Related terms
hypoglycemia
A blood glucose level below normal, under 70 mg/dL.
hypoxia
A lower than normal level of oxygen in the body's tissues.
delirium
A sudden state of confusion and poor attention that comes and goes over hours or days.
mental status
A person's state of mind at a given time: how alert they are, what they know and how they think, speak and behave.