Nursing Assessment and Infection Control Practice Flashcards

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering blood pressure terminology, normal vital sign ranges, stages of infection, and transmission modes based on nursing lecture notes.

Diastolic pressure

The measurement of the pressure exerted against the walls of the arteries by the blood during resting of the left ventricle of the heart.

Normal Vital Signs

Clinical benchmarks including rectal temperature of $99.5^{\circ}F$, blood pressure of $120/80\,mmHg$, heart rate of $50-100\,\text{beats per minute}$, oral temperature of $97.7^{\circ}F$, and respiratory rate of $12-20\,\text{breaths per minute}$.

Reservoir

A component of the infection cycle illustrated by a carrier who tests positive for an antibody (such as HIV) but has no symptoms.

Hypothermia

A medical term used for an adult client with a body temperature of $96^{\circ}F$.

Airborne route

The most likely means of transmission from an infected person who is coughing and sneezing to another person nearby.

Hand washing

The nurse's first action to help reduce health-care-associated infections (HAIs), performed before and after care of each patient.

Infection

A disease resulting from pathogens in or on the body.

Prodromal phase

A stage of illness where a person typically has vague, nonspecific symptoms and is highly contagious.

Vital sign assessment

An assessment that includes blood pressure, respirations, and heart rate, but does not include allergies or weight.

Risk for Infection Rationale

The principle that intact skin and mucous membranes protect against microbial invasion; their compromise (e.g., in major burns) increases susceptibility.

Afebrile

A term indicating that a patient does not have a fever, which is a normal reading requiring no action.

Direct contact

The mode of transmission for organisms causing mononucleosis, commonly referred to as "the kissing disease."

Temperature route documentation

The process of recording both the value and the site of measurement because temperatures vary depending on the route used.

Immune response

An example of the body's natural defense against infection.

Healthcare-associated infection (HAI)

An infection acquired during hospitalization, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) following surgery.

Eupnea

The medical term for normal respiration, such as an adult rate of $18\,\text{breaths per minute}$.

Purpose of Fever

The body's mechanism for creating an environment that is harmful to germs.

Respiratory assessment technique

Obtaining a respiration count without the client knowing to prevent the client from consciously altering their breathing pattern.

6 Chains of Infection

The sequence required for infection to occur: Infectious Agent, Reservoir, Portal of Exit, Mode of Transmission, Portal of Entry, and Susceptible Host.

Contact precautions

Proper protocols for wounds contaminated with MRSA, which include donning a clean gown and gloves each time a staff member enters the room for care.

Vectors

Carriers that transmit organisms from one living thing to another, such as mosquitoes, ticks, and lice.