Nursing Principles: Cognition, Delegation, Stress, Oxygenation, Mobility, and Skin Integrity

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards reviewing key terms, definitions, and physiological concepts across Chapters 31, 12, 32, 38, 28, and 29.

Cognition

Knowing influenced by awareness and judgment, composed of skills including language, calculation, memory, attention, reasoning, learning, problem solving, and decision-making.

Plasticity

The brain's ability to change and relocate functions if damage occurs.

Sensory Adaptation

The process by which the brain ignores some sensory impulses during times of alertness because they are not assigned priority as more important than others.

Reticular Activating System (RAS)

The area of the brain that controls alertness and attention.

Decussate

The process of nerve impulses crossing over to the other side of the body before reaching the brain.

Olfaction

The sense of smell, detected by chemoreceptors located in the upper nasal passages.

Gustation

The sense of taste, requiring chemoreceptors in taste buds on the tongue, roof of the mouth, and throat to come in direct contact with food.

Delirium

A reversible state of acute confusion characterized by disturbances in consciousness or changes in cognition that develop over $1$ to $2$ days due to a medical condition.

Amyloid Plaques

Protein fragments that build up between the nerve cells of the brain, blocking electrical impulses and chemical connections between neurons in Alzheimer's disease.

Neurofibrillary Tangles

Twisted fragments of protein within cells that clog nerve cells and interrupt nutrient delivery to brain cells in Alzheimer's disease.

FAST

An acronym recommended by the American Stroke Association for stroke recognition: Face dropping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulty, and Time to call 9-1-1.

Receptive Aphasia

A speech and language impairment (also known as Wernicke aphasia) where the patient cannot comprehend written or spoken language despite an intact auditory pathway.

Expressive Aphasia

A speech and language impairment (also known as Broca aphasia) due to damage to the motor speech area of the frontal lobe, leaving patients unable to express simple ideas or name objects despite understanding language.

Presbycusis

Age-related hearing loss that usually comes on slowly, affects hearing in both ears, and exhibits a familial pattern.

Presbyopia

An age-related decrease in the ability to focus on near objects due to a loss of lens flexibility, usually beginning after age $40$.

Delegation

The transfer of responsibility (per ANA) or transfer of authority (per NCSBN) to a competent individual to perform a selected nursing task in a selected situation, while the nurse retains accountability.

Five Rights of Delegation

The core delegation framework defined by the NCSBN comprising Right Task, Right Circumstance, Right Person, Right Communication (or Direction), and Right Supervision.

Supervision

Monitoring an activity being carried out by someone else and making sure that it is performed correctly, which includes periodic follow-up inquiries and evaluation.

Magnet Recognition Program

A program developed by the ANCC recognizing health care organizations for exemplary practice in patient care, nursing excellence, and innovation in nursing practice.

Homeostasis

The body's regulation of internal systems to maintain a steady state.

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

The physical response pattern to stress described by Hans Selye, consisting of three stages: alarm reaction, resistance, and exhaustion.

Eustress

Positive or motivational stress associated with effective coping and adaptation, essential for normal growth and development.

Distress

Negative stress that is beyond the affected person's ability to cope with or adapt to effectively, which can cause physical illness or emotional dysfunction.

Allostasis

The process of reestablishing homeostasis and assisting the body in maintaining stability following a stress response.

Sense of Coherence (SOC)

A personality characteristic referencing one's perception of the world as comprehensible, manageable, and meaningful.

Defense Mechanisms

Predominantly unconscious, protective coping methods applied in response to a perceived threat.

Resilience

The ability to adapt and persevere in adverse or challenging situations.

Preload

The amount of blood and pressure in the ventricle at the end of diastole.

Afterload

The resistance that must be exceeded for the ventricle to eject blood during systole.

Emphysema

A chronic obstructive pulmonary disease characterized by enlargement of gas-exchange airways and damage to alveolar walls, leading to loss of elasticity and air trapping.

Atelectasis

A respiratory condition resulting from blockage or collapse of air passages in at least one lobe of the lungs.

Forced Vital Capacity (FVC)

The amount of air that can be forcefully expelled or exhaled after the lungs are maximally inflated, normally approximately $4$\text{ L} in an adult.

Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 Second (FEV1)

The volume of air expelled in $1$\text{ second} from the beginning of the forced vital capacity maneuver.

Hemoptysis

The presence of blood in the sputum.

Cyanosis

A bluish discoloration of the skin related to deoxygenation of hemoglobin.

Hypercapnia

An abnormally high level of carbon dioxide in the blood ($\text{PaCO}_2 > 45$\text{ mm Hg}).

Proprioception

Awareness of posture and movement controlled by the nervous system.

Footdrop

A common musculoskeletal contracture resulting in permanent plantar flexion due to immobility.

Disuse Osteoporosis

Loss of bone mass resulting from a lack of physical activity and weight-bearing exercise.

Hemiparesis

Weakness on one side of the body resulting from injury or reduced blood flow to the contralateral side of the brain.

Hemiplegia

Paralysis of one side of the body resulting from brain damage on the opposite side.

Medical Adhesive-Related Skin Injury (MARSI)

Skin trauma such as erythema, vesicles, bulla, skin erosion, or epidermal tears persisting longer than $30$\text{ minutes} after removal of medical adhesive.

Primary Intention

Wound healing characterized by rapid progression and minimal scarring where surgical incision or acute wound edges are approximated.

Secondary Intention

Wound healing process where new tissue (granulation tissue) must fill in the wound bed from the bottom and sides for chronic or open wounds.

Tertiary Intention

Delayed wound closure where a wound is intentionally left open for a period before the edges are brought together.