Promoting Comfort and Managing Discomfort Practice Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering rest, sleep, pain management, and complementary health approaches based on lecture notes.

Comfort

A state of physical well-being, pleasure, and the absence of pain or stress.

Rest

A condition in which the body is in a decreased state of activity, with the consequent feeling of being refreshed.

Sleep

A state of rest accompanied by altered consciousness and relative inactivity, acting as a period of restoration for mental and physical function.

Wakefulness

A time characterized by mental activity and energy expenditure.

Reticular activating system (RAS)

The system in the brain that facilitates reflex and voluntary movements and helps control the sleep cycle.

Bulbar synchronizing region

A region in the brain that controls the state of alertness.

Hypothalamus

The control center for sleeping and waking.

Non-rapid eye movement (NREM)

A type of sleep comprising $75\text{-}80\%$ of overall sleep, consisting of four stages.

Delta sleep

The deep-sleep states associated with Stages III and IV of NREM sleep.

Rapid eye movement (REM)

Sleep phase making up $20\text{-}25\%$ of overall sleep where pulse, respiratory rate, and blood pressure increase while skeletal muscle tone is depressed.

REM Cycle Timing

Occurs approximately $90\,\text{minutes}$ after falling asleep and re-cycles approximately every $90\,\text{minutes}$.

Infant/Toddler rest needs

Daily rest requirement of $9\text{-}15\,\text{hours}$ per day.

Adult rest needs

Daily rest requirement of $7\text{-}8\,\text{hours}$ per day.

Good sleep hygiene exercise timing

Exercise should occur $2\,\text{hours}$ or more before bedtime to promote sleep.

Insomnia

Difficulty falling asleep or maintaining sleep despite having adequate opportunity and circumstances to sleep.

Sleep apnea

A sleep disorder involving interruptions in breathing characterized by apnea (absence of breathing) or hypopnea.

Hypopnea

Diminished breathing efforts during sleep.

Idiopathic hypersomnia

A disorder characterized by excessive sleep, particularly during the day.

Narcolepsy

Excessive daytime sleepiness and frequent overwhelming urges to sleep or inadvertent daytime lapses into sleep.

Cataplexy

The sudden, involuntary loss of skeletal muscle tone lasting from seconds to two minutes, experienced by many with narcolepsy.

Circadian Rhythm Sleep–Wake Disorders

Chronic patterns of sleep-wake rhythm disruption typically lasting at least $3\,\text{months}$.

Parasomnias

A category of sleep disorders that includes somnambulism, sleep terrors, and sleep enuresis.

Somnambulism

The clinical term for sleep walking.

Sleep enuresis

The clinical term for bedwetting during sleep.

Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS)

Also known as Willis–Ekbom disease (WED), a disorder where patients report unpleasant creeping, crawling, or tingling in the legs.

Sleep Diary

A diagnostic tool where a patient records times of retiring, awakening, stressors, and activities performed $2\text{ to }3\,\text{hours}$ before bedtime.

Pain

The fifth vital sign, defined as a privately experienced, unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with disease or injury.

Patient self-report

The most reliable indication of pain.

Transduction

The phase of pain transmission involving the activation of pain receptors.

Transmission

The phase of pain involving conduction along pathways such as A-delta and C-delta fibers.

Modulation

The inhibition or modification of pain by neuromodulators like endorphins and enkephalins.

Gate Control Theory

A theory describing a 'gate' in the CNS that opens with anxiety and closes with massage, vibration, or high-sensory input.

Pain threshold

The specific point at which pain is first perceived.

Pain tolerance

The length of time or intensity of pain a person will endure before outwardly responding.

Nociceptive Pain

Pain from noxious stimuli transmitted from peripheral sensory nerves, subcategorized into somatic or visceral pain.

Neuropathic Pain

Pain results from damage to pain pathways in peripheral nerves or processing centers in the brain, processed abnormally by the nervous system.

Acute pain

Pain that is rapid in onset, short in duration, protective, and likely to alter vital signs.

Chronic pain

Pain that lasts $6\,\text{months}$ or more, interferes with ADLs, and is unlikely to alter vital signs.

Cutaneous pain

Pain affecting the skin or subcutaneous tissue, such as a burn from a hot iron.

Visceral pain

Poorly localized pain originating in body organs, often described as deep, throbbing, or squeezing.

Deep somatic pain

Pain originating from ligaments, tendons, nerves, blood vessels, and bones.

Radiating pain

Pain that starts at an origin but extends to other locations.

Referred pain

Pain perceived in an area distant from the site of origin, such as jaw pain during a heart attack.

Phantom pain

Pain perceived from a body part that has been surgically or traumatically removed.

Allodynia

An exaggerated pain response.

PQRST Mnemonic

An assessment tool for pain covering Provocative/Palliative, Quality, Region, Severity, and Timing.

FLACC scale

A behavioral pain scale used for children, assessing Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, and Consolability.

CPOT Pain Scale

A scale for adult critical-care patients evaluating facial expressions, body movements, and ventilator compliance.

CRIES scale

A scale for babies that measures crying, oxygen requirements, vital signs, expression, and sleeplessness.

Wong-Baker FACES

A pain rating scale using six face icons ranging from 'No Hurt' to 'Hurts Worst'.

Acetaminophen dosage limit

The maximum daily dose should not exceed $4\,g/\text{day}$ due to hepatotoxic effects.

Adjuvants

Medications like antidepressants or anticonvulsants that enhance the effects of opioids and treat neuropathic pain.

Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA)

A delivery method that allows clients to self-administer safe doses of opioids to prevent overdosing.

Numeric Sedation Scale: Score 3

Indicates the patient is frequently drowsy and drifts off during conversation; dosage should be reduced.

Numeric Sedation Scale: Score 4

Indicates the patient is somnolent with minimal/no response; discontinue opioid and consider naloxone.

Addiction

A repetitive pattern of drug seeking and use to satisfy a craving for mind-altering or mood-altering effects.

Drug tolerance

A condition in which a client needs increasingly larger doses of a drug to achieve the same effect.

Physical dependence

The occurrence of withdrawal symptoms when a drug taken routinely is abruptly discontinued.

RICE

A non-pharmacologic intervention standing for Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation.

Cutaneous Stimulation duration

The most appropriate timeframe for heat or cold therapies is $20\,\text{minutes}$, with a maximum of $60\,\text{minutes}$.

Integrative Health (IH)

The combination of complementary and conventional health approaches in a coordinated way focusing on holistic health.

Allopathic Medicine

Biomedicine where health is the absence of disease and curing seeks to destroy pathogens or repair parts via drugs or surgery.

Holism

A philosophy focusing on connections between parts of the human and environment, asserting the body is a unified dynamic whole.

Whole Medical Systems

Belief systems outside Western medicine, such as Ayurvedic medicine or Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Ayurvedic medicine

The oldest system of medicine, focusing on a strong body, clear mind, and tranquil spirit.

Echinacea

A botanical therapy used to enhance immunity.

Garlic (Biological Therapy)

A natural product used to inhibit platelet aggregation.

Ginkgo biloba

A botanical therapy used to improve memory.

Valerian

A plant-derived supplement used to promote sleep and reduce anxiety.

Energy-Healing Therapies

Practices involving manipulation of electromagnetic fields, such as Reiki or Therapeutic touch.