Procedures and skills

Removal of the lower sigmoid colon, the rectum and the anus through both an abdominal and a perineal incision, leaving a permanent colostomy.

Moving a limb or part away from the midline of the body, such as raising an arm out to the side.

A procedure that destroys a small area of tissue, often with heat or cold, to stop it from causing a problem.

Removal of the leg through the thigh, with the femur cut above the knee joint; abbreviated AKA.

Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support: the American Heart Association's guidelines and course for treating cardiac arrest and other heart emergencies.

The bony tip of the shoulder blade that forms the top of the shoulder.

The basic self-care tasks of everyday life, such as bathing, dressing, eating, toileting and moving about.

A complementary therapy in which firm pressure is applied with the fingers to specific points on the body.

A treatment from traditional Chinese medicine in which very thin needles are placed in the skin at specific points.

As much or as often as the client wants; written in orders, from the Latin ad libitum.

Helping a person adjust or manage, such as tools made easier to use or healthy ways of coping.

Tools and devices that help a person with an illness or disability do daily tasks more easily and on their own.

Moving a limb or part toward the midline of the body, such as bringing an arm back down to the side.

Surgical removal of the adenoids, the lymph tissue high in the nasopharynx behind the nose.

Surgery to remove one or both adrenal glands, or part of one.

The passages that carry air into and out of the lungs, from the nose and mouth to the smallest air tubes.

The correct lining up of body parts or of the pieces of a broken bone.

A bedside check of blood flow to the hand through the ulnar artery, done by pressing and releasing the wrist arteries.

To walk, or to help a client walk.

A test in which a needle is put through the belly into the uterus to take a sample of amniotic fluid.

Loss of feeling or sensation, often brought on by drugs so that surgery or a procedure can be done without pain.

Opening a narrowed or blocked blood vessel from the inside, most often by inflating a balloon catheter at the narrowed part.

Looking at the inside of a blood vessel through a thin, flexible fiberoptic scope.

A surgical opening made into a sinus cavity (an antrum), most often the maxillary sinus, so it can drain into the nose.

A 0-to-10 rating of a newborn's condition at 1 and 5 minutes after birth, based on five signs.

Relating to the apex, the tip or top of a structure; most often used for the apical pulse, heard at the tip of the heart.

The heartbeat counted by listening with a stethoscope over the tip (apex) of the heart, on the left side of the chest.

Surgery to remove the appendix.

A padded, flat attachment fastened to the side rail of the OR table that holds the patient's arm out from the body.

A thin catheter placed in an artery, often in the wrist, to measure blood pressure all the time and draw blood.

A surgical incision into an artery.

A connection made by surgery between an artery and a vein, usually in the arm, to give access for hemodialysis.

A soft synthetic tube placed under the skin to join an artery to a vein, used for hemodialysis access.

Puncture of a joint with a needle to draw out fluid, to test it or to relieve pressure.

Surgical fusion of a joint, so the bones on each side grow together into one solid piece and the joint no longer moves.

Surgery to repair or replace a joint, most often the hip or knee.

Minimally invasive surgery inside a joint, with a scope and instruments passed through small puncture incisions, to diagnose and repair.

The state of being free of germs that cause disease, and the practices used to keep things that way.

The practices that keep disease-causing germs from reaching a patient, a wound or a sterile item; in surgery, sterile technique.

Breathing food, liquid, saliva or stomach contents into the airway and lungs; also, drawing fluid out with suction or a needle.

Equipment that helps a person move, do daily tasks or communicate more safely and on their own, such as a cane, walker or grab bar.

Listening to the sounds inside the body, usually with a stethoscope.

A portable device that checks the heart rhythm through pads on the chest and gives an electric shock if one is needed.

A quick scale for level of consciousness: Alert, responds to Voice, responds to Pain, or Unresponsive.

Surgery to remove the lymph nodes and fat of the armpit, most often to stage or treat breast cancer.

A firm padded roll placed under the chest just below the lower armpit of a patient lying on the side, to take weight off the lower arm's nerves and vessels.