MedSurg 1 Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering fundamental Medical-Surgical Nursing concepts including ethics, levels of care, stress response, immunity, fluid and electrolyte balance, clinical procedures, and patient care interventions.

Autonomy

An ethical principle stating that a competent patient has the right to make their own healthcare decisions and to accept or refuse treatment.

Beneficence

An ethical principle requiring healthcare providers to act in the best interest of the patient and perform actions that do good.

Nonmaleficence

An ethical principle requiring healthcare providers to avoid causing preventable harm to the patient.

Justice

An ethical principle focused on fairness and equal distribution of care and healthcare resources.

Veracity

An ethical principle requiring healthcare providers to be truthful with patients.

Intermediate Care

Custodial nursing-home-level care provided $24$\text{ hours} a day for patients who typically require assistance with $2$ to $3$ activities of daily living (ADLs).

Assessment

The collection and processing of relevant data to appraise a client's health status, providing a holistic view including physical, developmental, emotional, psychosocial, cultural, spiritual, and functional status.

Planning

The phase of the nursing process that encompasses collecting health status information, using multiple methods to access information, and analyzing knowledge to formulate nursing care plans and care actions.

Caring Interventions

Nursing behaviors and actions based on knowledge of natural sciences, behavioral sciences, and past nursing experiences that assist clients and significant others in meeting their needs and plan of care outcomes.

Rehabilitation

The process of restoring an individual to the best possible health and functioning after a physical or mental impairment while fostering the client's independence.

Caretaker (Family Role)

The family member who nurtures and cares for other members, especially when someone is sick or needs help.

Martyr (Family Role)

The family member who sacrifices their own needs for the sake of the family.

Scapegoat (Family Role)

The family member who is blamed for the family's emotional problems or conflicts and is often labeled the problem member.

Blocker (Family Role)

The family member who opposes or rejects ideas and prevents change or progress.

Local Adaptation Syndrome (LAS)

A short-term, localized body response to stress, such as blood clotting, wound healing, inflammation, and pain.

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

A whole-body response to stress consisting of three sequential stages: alarm reaction, resistance, and exhaustion.

Innate Immunity

Nonspecific immune protection present at birth, including physical barriers like skin and mucous membranes, phagocytosis, inflammation, complement, interferon, and pyrogens.

Acquired Immunity

Specific immune defense that develops after exposure to an antigen through illness or vaccination, involving specific recognition and memory.

Neutrophils

White blood cells that serve as the body's primary defense against bacterial infections.

Bradykinin

A chemical mediator produced by the kinin system during inflammation that causes vasodilation, increased vascular permeability, and pain.

Local Inflammation

An inflammatory response confined to a specific area, characterized by redness, heat, swelling, pain, and loss of function.

Systemic Inflammation

A whole-body response to tissue injury characterized by fever, headache, muscle aches, chills, sweating, and leukocytosis.

Antidiuretic Hormone (ADH)

A hormone that acts on the kidneys to retain water, causing urine volume to decrease and become more concentrated during fluid volume deficit.

Atrial Natriuretic Factor (ANF)

A hormone released by the heart's atria in response to high blood volume and atrial stretch, promoting sodium and water excretion to lower blood volume and pressure.

Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)

Persistent memory problems in individuals with otherwise normal cognitive function, where an estimated $40\%$ to $50\%$ of individuals develop Alzheimer's disease within $3$\text{ years}.

Despair (Erikson)

A developmental state occurring when an older adult feels regret, bitterness, or disappointment about their life, focusing on missed opportunities and fearing death.

Modified Trendelenburg Position

A head-down or recumbent client position recommended for managing neurogenic shock.

Norton Scale

An assessment tool used to predict pressure injury risk, where a total score of less than $14$ indicates significant risk requiring a formal pressure injury prevention program.

Urge Incontinence

Loss of urine that usually follows a strong desire to void.

Overflow Incontinence

Loss of urine associated with a full bladder, characterized by frequent voiding of small volumes.

Reflex Incontinence

Loss of urine occurring as a result of reflexive muscle contraction.

Stress Incontinence

Loss of urine occurring during physical exertion.

Functional Incontinence

Involuntary loss of urine in a person whose bladder functions normally, but who voids inappropriately due to other limitations.

Infiltration

The leakage of IV fluid into surrounding tissue, characterized by pain or a burning sensation, a pale and puffy site, and hard, cool tissue.

Palliative Surgery

Surgery that relieves symptoms or improves function without correcting the basic underlying problem.

First Line of Defense

The body's physical and chemical barrier preventing microorganism entry, including skin, mucous membranes, sweat glands producing lysozyme, sebaceous glands producing sebum, acidic secretions, IgA, normal flora, cilia, GI tract movement, and shedding of dead skin cells.