Procedures and skills

The pulse felt at the wrist, on the thumb side, over the radial artery.

Energy that travels as waves or particles, such as X-rays, used to make images or treat cancer; also pain that spreads from its starting point.

Treatment that uses high-energy rays or radioactive material to kill cancer cells or shrink tumors.

Removal of the whole breast with the pectoralis major and minor muscles and all the axillary lymph nodes.

How far a joint can move in each of its normal directions, and the exercises that move joints through it.

A fast way of putting a patient with a full stomach to sleep and placing a cuffed breathing tube, to lower the risk of aspiration.

To add a liquid, such as sterile water or saline, to a dry powdered drug to make a liquid of a set strength.

Relating to the rectum, the last part of the large intestine; also, given or measured through the rectum.

Starting food or nutrition support again in a person who has been starved or severely malnourished.

Replacing the water and salts the body has lost, by mouth or through an IV.

A state of calm with less physical and mental tension, or the methods used to reach it.

Changing a client's body position on a regular schedule, or moving a device to a new place.

Surgery to remove part of an organ or tissue.

Breathing air in and out, and the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the air, the blood and the cells.

A close-fitting mask or hood that filters the air a person breathes to protect them from germs or harmful particles.

The number of breaths a person takes in one minute.

Emergency treatment to restore breathing, heartbeat or blood circulation.

Removal of the prostate through a lower abdominal incision, reaching the gland in the space behind the pubic bone without opening the bladder.

A position lying on the back on a bed or table that is tilted so the head is higher than the feet, with the body kept straight.

Surgery that reshapes the outside of the nose, for its looks, after an injury or a birth defect, or to fix a breathing problem.

A facelift: surgery that lifts the deeper tissues of the face and neck and removes loose skin to reduce sagging and wrinkles.

Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation: a memory aid for first care of a sprain, strain or bruise.

Surgery done through a computer-assisted electromechanical device that the surgeon controls from a console, most often as minimally invasive surgery.

A lateral transfer device of rollers inside heavy plastic fabric that lets a patient roll across from a stretcher to the OR table with little friction.

A balance test in which the person stands with feet together and arms at the sides, first with eyes open and then with eyes closed.