Nutrition Assessment, Skin, Hair, & Nails, and Wound Assessment Vocabulary

Vocabulary practice cards covering fundamental clinical terminology for nutrition, integumentary assessment, and tissue integrity management.

Nutritional Status

The balance between nutrient intake and physiological requirement, influenced by illness, medications, metabolism, and functional ability.

Nutrition Screening

A brief, standardized initial step used to quickly identify individuals who are at risk for nutritional deficits.

Comprehensive Nutritional Assessment

A thorough evaluation conducted when screening identifies risk, incorporating diet and health history, anthropometrics, focused physical findings, and laboratory data.

Cachexia

A wasting syndrome occurring when metabolism is elevated while appetite is decreased, causing the body to burn its own muscle and fat for energy.

Kwashiorkor

A form of severe malnutrition caused by protein deficiency, characterized by bilateral pitting edema, moon face, puffy appearance, and fatty liver.

Marasmus

A form of severe malnutrition resulting from calorie deficiency, characterized by marked weight loss, loss of muscle mass, and severe wasting without edema.

Clubbing

An increased nail base angle (>180^\normal^\text{o} or $>180^\text{o}$) with loss of the normal profile window, often signaling chronic hypoxia.

Senile Purpura

Dark red or purple macular patches appearing on aging skin as a result of thin, fragile skin and minor microvascular trauma.

Pallor

Generalized lightening or loss of usual color in the skin resulting from reduced perfusion or blood flow.

Cyanosis

A gray, blue, or dusky color change in skin or mucous membranes caused by tissue hypoxia or inadequate arterial oxygenation.

Erythema

Redness or deepened color change in the skin resulting from vascular congestion and hyperemic blood flow during inflammation.

Jaundice

Yellowing of the skin and sclera resulting from elevated levels of circulating bilirubin in the body.

Primary Lesions

Initial visible physical changes in the skin resulting directly from a disease process or injury.

Secondary Lesions

Skin changes that evolve from primary lesions or result from scratching, infection, trauma, or healing processes.

ABCDE Mnemonic

A clinical guideline used to recognize suspicious features in pigmented skin lesions: Asymmetry, Border irregularity, Color variation, Diameter ($>6\,\text{mm}$), and Elevation/Evolving.

Primary Intention Healing

Wound closure pathway where clean wound edges are approximated with sutures, staples, or adhesive, resulting in quick healing and minimal scar formation.

Secondary Intention Healing

Wound healing process where open wound edges are not brought together, and the wound fills slowly from the inside via granulation, contraction, and epithelialization.

Tertiary Intention Healing

Delayed primary wound closure where a wound is intentionally left open initially (e.g., due to contamination or severe edema) and closed at a later time.

Hemostasis

The initial phase of wound repair occurring immediately post-injury, involving vasoconstriction, platelet aggregation, and clot formation to stop bleeding.

Inflammation Phase

The second phase of wound healing during which vasodilation and immune white blood cell activity clean debris and defend against microbes.

Proliferation Phase

The third phase of wound healing characterized by the formation of granulation tissue, angiogenesis, collagen deposition, wound contraction, and epithelialization.

Maturation Phase

The final long-term phase of wound repair where collagen remodels and increases tissue tensile strength over months.

Undermining

Tissue destruction extending laterally underneath intact dermal skin along the edges of a wound.

Tunneling

A narrow tract or channel extending from any part of the wound bed through subcutaneous soft tissue.

Periwound

The area of intact skin immediately extending outward from the margins of a wound bed.

Induration

Abnormal hardness or firmness of skin and soft tissue surrounding a wound or lesion, indicative of edema or inflammation.

Denuded Skin

Loss of the outer epidermal layer of skin, exposing a moist, red, raw tissue surface.

Serous Drainage

Clear, thin, pale yellow, watery fluid rich in plasma, commonly observed during normal early wound healing.

Sanguineous Drainage

Bright red fluid exudate consisting of fresh blood, indicating active bleeding or vascular injury.

Serosanguineous Drainage

Pink or light red, thin, watery fluid composed of a mixture of blood serum and red blood cells, common in postoperative wounds.

Purulent Drainage

Thick, opaque yellow, green, brown, or white wound drainage containing pus, bacteria, and white blood cells, indicating clinical infection.

Stage 1 Pressure Injury

Intact skin with a localized area of non-blanchable erythema, which may present differently in darkly pigmented skin.

Stage 2 Pressure Injury

Partial-thickness skin loss with exposed dermis, presenting as a viable pink/red wound bed or an intact/ruptured serum-filled blister.

Stage 3 Pressure Injury

Full-thickness loss of skin in which subcutaneous adipose (fat) tissue is visible in the ulcer bed.

Stage 4 Pressure Injury

Full-thickness skin and tissue loss with directly visible or palpable fascia, muscle, tendon, ligament, cartilage, or bone.

Deep Tissue Pressure Injury

Intact or non-intact skin displaying persistent, non-blanchable deep red, maroon, or purple discoloration, or epidermal separation revealing a dark wound bed.

Unstageable Pressure Injury

Full-thickness skin and tissue loss in which the extent of tissue damage within the ulcer bed cannot be confirmed because it is obscured by slough or eschar.

Slough

Soft, moist, nonviable yellow, tan, gray, or green necrotic tissue attached to a wound bed.

Eschar

Thick, leathery, dark brown or black nonviable dead tissue covering a wound surface.

Passive Drain

An open wound drainage system (such as a Penrose drain) that relies on gravity or capillary action to route fluid into an external dressing.

Active Drain

A closed suction drainage system (such as a Jackson-Pratt or Hemovac) that utilizes compressed negative pressure to pull fluid from a surgical site.