Procedures and skills

An open operation for stress urinary incontinence that stitches the tissue beside the urethra and bladder neck up to the back of the pubic bone.

A covering for the nose and mouth, worn to block germs or to deliver oxygen.

Rubbing, pressing or kneading the body's soft tissues to relax muscles, ease pain or improve blood flow.

Replacing more than an adult's whole blood volume within 24 hours, or more than half of it within 4 hours.

Surgical removal of diseased bone, the air cells and their lining from the mastoid behind the ear.

A breast lift: surgery that raises and reshapes a drooping breast by moving the nipple up and removing extra skin.

Holding the upper and lower jaws closed together in the correct bite, with wires or bands between bars on the teeth.

Pulling a laboring client's legs back sharply so the thighs press against the abdomen, to widen the pelvis during birth.

A device with a sling that lifts and moves a client who cannot bear weight, such as from bed to chair.

Breathing support from a machine, a ventilator, that pushes air into the lungs through a tube or a mask.

Looking into the mediastinum with a lighted scope passed through a small incision just above the sternal notch, to biopsy lymph nodes.

The everyday hand wash with soap and water that removes dirt and the germs picked up during work, rubbing for at least 20 seconds.

A record of a person's past and present health, illnesses, surgeries, medicines, allergies and family health.

Surgical removal of all or part of a torn meniscus in the knee, usually through an arthroscope.

An imaginary line down the center of the body; also, a type of IV catheter placed in a vein of the upper arm.

The ability to move freely and easily, such as turning in bed, getting up and walking.

A drug-induced state of relaxed, lowered awareness in which the client still responds to voice or light touch and breathes on their own.

Removal of the whole breast with the axillary lymph nodes, keeping the chest wall muscles.

The planned use of music, by a trained music therapist, to help a person's physical, emotional or mental health.

Surgery that removes fibroids from the uterus and keeps the uterus in place.

An operation that closes a small hole in the eardrum that will not heal, without entering the middle ear.

A small cut in the eardrum to let fluid drain from the middle ear, usually with a tiny tube placed in the cut to keep it open.