Nursing practice

A 1990 US law that gave the FDA more power over medical devices and requires facilities to report devices that may have caused harm.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: the US government agency for mental health and substance use services.

Taking a small part of something, such as blood or tissue, or choosing a group of people for a study.

A four-part way to report about a client: situation, background, assessment and recommendation.

Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment: a quick method for finding and addressing risky alcohol and drug use.

The actions and duties a licensed professional is legally allowed to perform.

Testing people who have no symptoms to find a disease or risk early.

A test given to people who have no symptoms, to find a disease or risk early.

Keeping a client alone in a room, against their will, that they are prevented from leaving.

The level of prevention that finds a disease early and treats it promptly so it does not get worse.

The things people do for themselves to look after their own health and daily needs.

The picture a person has of who they are, including their abilities, roles, body and worth.

A person's right to make their own choices about their life and health care.

How much a person values and respects themselves.

Hurting one's own body on purpose, such as by cutting, burning or hitting oneself.

Letting some air and moisture vapor through while keeping out liquid and germs, as a dressing does; also called semipermeable.

A loss or weakening of one or more senses, such as sight, hearing, touch, taste or smell.

An unexpected event in health care that causes a client's death, permanent harm or severe temporary harm.

Any sexual act forced on a person, or done with someone who cannot agree to it, such as a child.

Unwelcome sexual conduct, such as advances, requests for sexual favors or sexual remarks or touch, in person or online.

The pattern of a person's emotional, romantic or sexual attraction to others.

The part of a person's life that involves sexual feelings, attraction, behavior, relationships and identity.

Social history: the part of a health history about a person's living situation, work, habits and supports.

A rigid, puncture-resistant, leak-proof box marked with the biohazard symbol, into which used needles, blades and other sharps go.

To stay inside, in the safest part of a building, until a danger outside passes or rescuers arrive.

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

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

A person who is very important in someone's life, such as a spouse, partner or close friend.

A quick method, called START, for sorting adult victims in a mass-casualty event by how urgently they need care.

Marking the place on the skin where an operation will be done, before surgery, so the team cannot operate on the wrong side, site or level.

A staff member assigned to stay with one client and watch them continuously to keep them safe.

A facility that gives round-the-clock nursing care and rehabilitation to people who no longer need a hospital.

A spoken false statement that harms another person's good name; the spoken form of defamation.

A progress note written in four parts: Subjective, Objective, Assessment and Plan.

A condition of the places where people are born, live, learn, work and age that affects their health, such as income, housing and education.

Having little contact with other people, or being cut off from family, friends and community.

The help and comfort a person gets from family, friends, community and groups.

A professional who helps clients and families with social, emotional, financial and practical problems related to health and care.

The process by which a person learns the values, habits and ways of behaving of their family, culture or profession.

A person's social and financial position, usually measured by income, education and type of work.

Groups of patients whose age, body or condition calls for extra planning and care in surgery, such as children, older adults and patients with obesity.

The form, paper or electronic, that goes with a specimen to the lab and says whose it is, what it is and what test is wanted.

A health professional who assesses and treats problems with speech, language, voice and swallowing.

Suffering that comes when a person's sense of meaning, purpose, faith or connection is shaken.

A person's sense of meaning, purpose and connection to themselves, others, nature or a higher power.

Bringing something to a steady, controlled state, such as a client's condition, an injured body part or a crisis.

Describes a client whose condition is not changing and whose response to care can be predicted.

The level of care that a reasonably careful nurse with the same training would give in the same situation.

An order that stays in effect for a set kind of patient or procedure until the prescriber cancels it.

Law passed by a legislature, such as Congress or a state legislature; each law it passes is called a statute.