CCMA study guide 1

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering clinical duties, vital signs, physical examination techniques, patient positioning, hazard safety, emergency first aid, medical and surgical asepsis, transmission precautions, latex allergies, prescription notation, and cardiovascular anatomy.

Physician Assistant

A healthcare professional who examines, diagnoses, and treats patients under the direct supervision of a physician, distinct from clinical medical assistants whose duties are restricted to routine administrative and clinical tasks within their scope of practice.

Review of Systems (ROS)

An orderly and systematic check of each organ and system of the body using questions to document both positive and pertinent negative findings essential to diagnosis.

Vital Signs

Indicators that reflect the functions of three body processes necessary for life (body temperature, respiration, and heart function), traditionally comprising temperature, pulse, respiration, and blood pressure.

Hypothalamus

The structure in the brain responsible for maintaining and regulating body temperature as a balance between heat production and heat loss.

Intermittent Fever

A fluctuating body temperature pattern that rises above normal and returns to or below baseline before rising again.

Remittent Fever

A fluctuating fever pattern where body temperature fluctuates but remains consistently elevated without returning to the baseline.

Continuous Fever

A fever that remains constantly above the baseline without undergoing fluctuations.

Apical Pulse

A heart rate measurement taken over the apex of the heart via auscultation with a stethoscope, utilized primarily for infants, small children, and patients with irregular heart rates.

Apnea

A temporary complete absence of breathing, which may result from a reduction in stimuli to the respiratory centers of the brain.

Tachypnea

A respiration rate of greater than $40/\text{min}$, which is transient in newborns and may be caused by hysteria in adults.

Bradypnea

A decrease in the number of respirations below the normal range, occurring during sleep or caused by certain disease states.

Cheyne-Stokes

A respiratory rhythm abnormality characterized by a regular pattern of irregular breathing rate.

Orthopnea

A condition characterized by difficulty or inability to breathe comfortably unless positioned in an upright posture.

Hypoventilation

A state in which a reduced amount of air enters the lungs, causing decreased oxygen levels and increased carbon dioxide levels in the blood due to shallow breathing, slow breathing, or diminished lung function.

Hyperpnea

An abnormal increase in both the depth and rate of breathing.

Sphygmomanometer Cuff Sizing Criteria

Standard cuff dimensions where the width of the inflatable bladder is approximately $40\%$ of the limb circumference ($12\,\text{cm to }14\,\text{cm}$ in an average adult) and the length is approximately $80\%$ of the limb circumference.

Anthropometric Measurements

Comparative physical measurements of the body (e.g., length, height, weight, head circumference, BMI, and body fat percentage) used to evaluate development, health, and disease risk.

Percussion

A physical examination technique that involves tapping or striking the body with the fingers or a small hammer to assess the position, size, and density of an underlying organ or tissue.

Auscultation

The diagnostic examination technique of listening to sounds produced by internal organs, typically the heart, lungs, and abdomen, using a stethoscope.

Fowler's Position

A sitting or semi-sitting examination position in which the back of the table is elevated to either $45^\circ$ (Semi-Fowler's) or $90^\circ$ (High-Fowler's) to ease breathing, assist drainage, or examine the head and upper body.

Dorsal Lithotomy Position

An examination position used for pelvic organs where the patient lies on their back with thighs acutely flexed, legs separated, and feet placed in stirrups.

Sim's Position

A position where the patient lies on the left side with the right knee flexed toward the abdomen, left knee slightly flexed, and left arm behind the body; primarily used for rectal examinations.

Knee-Chest Position

An examination posture where the patient rests on their knees with chest on the table and thighs perpendicular to the surface, used for rectal exams, vaginal exams, and uterine repositioning.

Trendelenburg Position

A surgical position where the patient lies flat on the back with legs supported by a footboard and the table angled so the head is placed $45^\circ$ lower than the body; primarily used for abdominal and pelvic procedures.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

The regulatory agency responsible for identifying workplace hazards and enforcing safety rules to minimize health worker risks and ensure safe operating conditions.

Shock

A life-threatening clinical condition caused by insufficient return of blood flow to the heart, resulting in an inadequate supply of oxygen to all body organs and tissues.

Chain of Infection

The six-component pathway necessary for the spread of infectious disease: agent, reservoir, portal of exit, mode of transmission, portal of entry, and susceptible host.

Medical Asepsis

The destruction of pathogenic microorganisms after they leave the body, achieved through sanitization, disinfection, and standard or transmission-based precautions.

Surgical Asepsis

The complete destruction of all microbial life, including both pathogenic and nonpathogenic organisms, before performing an invasive procedure (also known as sterile technique).

Steam Sterilization (Autoclave)

A sterilization method utilizing pressurized steam at temperatures between $250^\circ\text{F}$ and $254^\circ\text{F}$ for an exposure duration of $20\text{ to }40\,\text{minutes}$.

Standard Precautions

The first tier of infection control requiring barrier protection and safe work practices under the presumption that all patients are infectious for blood-borne pathogens and handling nonintact skin, mucous membranes, and all fluids except sweat.

Airborne Precautions

A category of transmission-based precautions for infectious particles capable of dispersing widely on air currents over long distances, requiring dedicated ventilation and air-handling controls.

Droplet Precautions

Transmission-based precautions for large-particle droplets produced by coughing, sneezing, or talking that travel short distances ($3\,\text{feet}$ or less) and do not require special air-handling systems.

Allergic Contact Dermatitis (Latex)

A Type IV delayed hypersensitivity reaction triggered by latex processing chemicals (e.g., thiurams, carbamates), presenting with skin blistering, itching, and crusting similar to poison ivy.

Natural Rubber Latex (NRL) Allergy

An IgE/histamine-mediated Type I immediate hypersensitivity reaction to natural rubber latex proteins, capable of causing localized hives, wheezing, dyspnea, and fatal anaphylactic shock.

Sig

A prescription directive derived from the Latin signetur ('let it be labeled'), denoting the instructions for how much medication to take, the route, and the frequency.

Mediastenum

The thoracic cavity space situated between the lungs and directly posterior to the sternum where the heart is located.

Apex of the Heart

The lower anatomical tip of the heart, situated at the level of the 5th intercostal space along the left mid-clavicular line.