Dictionary

Signs and symptoms

What a client reports and what a nurse observes, named the way charts and handoffs name them.

scabA dry, hard crust of dried blood and fluid that forms over a healing wound.

seizureA sudden burst of abnormal electrical activity in the brain that changes movement, feeling, behavior or awareness.

setting-sun signEyes turned downward so that a strip of white shows above the colored part of the eye, like a sun setting below the horizon.

shortness of breathThe feeling of not getting enough air or of having to work hard to breathe.

signSomething about a person's body that another person can see, hear, feel or measure, such as a fever, a rash or a fast pulse.

sign and symptomThe findings of an illness taken together: what can be seen or measured (signs) and what the person feels and reports (symptoms).

sinus bradycardiaA regular heart rhythm that starts normally in the sinus node but runs slower than 60 beats per minute.

six P'sA memory aid listing six things checked in a limb: pain, pallor, pulselessness, paresthesia, paralysis and poikilothermia (coldness).

sneezingA sudden, forceful burst of air out through the nose and mouth, set off by irritation inside the nose.

snoringRough, noisy breathing sounds made during sleep.

sore throatPain, scratchiness or irritation of the throat, often worse when swallowing.

spasmA sudden, involuntary tightening of a muscle or of the muscle in a hollow organ or tube.

spasticityMuscle stiffness and tightness that resists stretching, more strongly the faster a limb is moved.

splenomegalyEnlargement of the spleen.

strawberry tongueA swollen, red tongue with enlarged bumps on its surface, looking like a strawberry.

stridorA high-pitched, harsh sound made while breathing, usually heard when breathing in.

suicidal ideationThinking about, considering or planning suicide.

sundowningConfusion, restlessness or agitation that gets worse in the late afternoon and evening in some people with dementia.

sweatingGiving off salty fluid from glands in the skin, which cools the body as it dries.

swellingAn abnormal enlargement of a body part, often from fluid, blood or inflammation in the tissue.

symptomSomething a person feels and reports that others cannot see or measure, such as pain, nausea or dizziness.

syncopeFainting: a short loss of consciousness from a drop in blood flow to the brain.