Nursing Foundations: Vital Signs, Cultural Care, Health Promotion, Communication, and Professional Practice

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcard set covering vital signs parameters, cultural competence, health promotion levels, therapeutic communication phases, and professional nursing concepts.

Hyperthermia

An elevated body temperature above normal limits resulting from the body's inability to promote heat loss or reduce heat production.

Hypothermia

A core body temperature less than normal limits (typically lower than $95^\circ\text{F}$) due to exposure to cold or impaired thermoregulation.

Fever (Pyrexia)

An elevation of body temperature above normal caused by an upward displacement of the thermoregulatory set point in the hypothalamus.

Febrile

The state of having or showing symptoms of a fever.

Afebrile

The state of being without a fever; maintaining a normal body temperature.

Hyperpyrexia

An extraordinarily high fever with a body temperature exceeding $106^\circ\text{F}$, which is a medical emergency.

Tachycardia

A rapid heart rate exceeding $100\,\text{beats per minute}$ in an adult.

Bradycardia

A slow heart rate that is less than $60\,\text{beats per minute}$ in an adult.

Pulse Deficit

The numerical difference between the apical pulse rate and the peripheral radial pulse rate.

Eupnea

Normal, unlabored, quiet breathing with a regular rate and rhythm.

Apnea

The temporary absence or cessation of breathing.

Dyspnea

Difficult or labored breathing, often described as shortness of breath.

Orthopnea

Difficulty breathing when lying flat, which is relieved by sitting or standing in an upright position.

Tachypnea

Abnormally rapid rate of breathing.

Bradypnea

Abnormally slow rate of breathing.

Systolic Pressure

The peak blood pressure exerted against arterial walls during ventricular contraction.

Diastolic Pressure

The lowest blood pressure exerted against arterial walls when the heart relaxes between beats.

Pulse Pressure

The mathematical difference between the systolic blood pressure and the diastolic blood pressure.

Korotkoff Sounds

The series of vascular sounds heard through a stethoscope over an artery while inflating and deflating a blood pressure cuff.

Auscultatory Gap

A temporary disappearance of Korotkoff sounds during cuff deflation, typically occurring between Phase I and Phase II.

Cultural Diversity

The coexistence of different ethnic, gender, racial, and socioeconomic groups within one social structure or population.

Subculture

A distinct group of people who are members of a larger cultural group but have unique ethnic, occupational, or physical characteristics that set them apart.

Cultural Assimilation

The process by which a minority group or individual gradually adopts the customs, values, and traits of the dominant culture.

Culture Shock

Feelings of confusion, anxiety, and discomfort experienced when exposed to a culture that is radically different from one's own.

Ethnicity

A sense of identification with a collective cultural group, based on common heritage, language, ancestry, or religious practices.

Race

A classification of humans based on shared physical or biological traits such as skin color, facial features, or hair texture.

Stereotyping

Assigning fixed, oversimplified, and generalized characteristics or behaviors to all members of a specific group without regarding individual differences.

Implicit Bias

Unconscious attitudes, associations, or stereotypes that affect an individual's understanding, actions, and decisions toward others.

Cultural Imposition

The tendency of an individual or group to impose their own cultural beliefs, values, and practices onto people from another culture.

Cultural Blindness

The failure to recognize or acknowledge cultural differences, treating all people as if they are exactly the same.

Culture Conflict

The state occurring when people become aware of cultural differences, feel threatened, and respond by ridiculing the beliefs and traditions of others to feel secure.

Ethnocentrism

The belief that one's own culture, ethnicity, or group is inherently superior to all others.

Cultural Humility

A lifelong commitment to self-evaluation, addressing power imbalances, and developing non-paternalistic clinical partnerships.

Health

A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

Illness

The unique response of a person to a disease; an abnormal process in which the person's level of functioning is altered compared with a previous state.

Acute Illness

A disease or condition that has a rapid onset of symptoms, lasts a relatively short time, and usually resolves after treatment.

Chronic Illness

A long-term health condition encompassing permanent changes, irreversible alterations in normal anatomy/physiology, and requiring prolonged care.

Remission

A period during a chronic illness when symptoms are partially or completely absent.

Exacerbation

A period during a chronic illness when symptoms reappear, intensify, or become acute.

Primary Prevention

Health promotion and disease prevention measures aimed at preventing the onset of disease or injury before it occurs.

Secondary Prevention

Interventions focused on early detection, screening, and prompt treatment of disease to limit its progression and severity.

Tertiary Prevention

Interventions aimed at rehabilitation and reducing disability after a disease or impairment has already occurred.

Nonverbal Communication

The transmission of information and meaning without spoken words, expressed through body language, facial expressions, posture, touch, and eye contact.

Preparatory Phase

The phase of communication prior to meeting the patient, where the nurse gathers background data and plans the initial interaction.

Orientation Phase

The initial phase of the nurse-patient relationship where roles are clarified, contract parameters established, and trust/rapport building begins.

Working Phase

The active phase of the nurse-patient relationship where the nurse and patient work collaboratively to meet physical and psychosocial health goals.

Termination Phase

The final phase of the nurse-patient relationship where goals are evaluated and the professional relationship concludes.

ISBAR

A standardized framework for structuring clinical communication among healthcare team members: Introduction, Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation.

Autonomy (Nursing Ethics)

Providing the information and support patients and families need to make the decision that is right for them, including collaborating with other health care team members to advocate for the patient.

Beneficence

Committing oneself to actively promoting the patient's benefit (health and well-being or good dying) while remaining sensitive to differing individual interpretations of benefits and harms.

Nonmaleficence

Seeking not to inflict harm, and striving to prevent harm or risk of harm whenever possible.

Justice (Nursing Ethics)

Seeking to distribute the benefits, risks, and costs of nursing care justly, which involves recognizing subtle instances of bias and discrimination.

Fidelity

Being faithful to the promise made to the public to be competent and willing to use competence to benefit patients, never abandoning a patient without providing for their needs.

Nursing Process

Guidelines followed by nurses to identify client health care needs and strengths, establish and carry out a plan of care, and evaluate the plan's effectiveness in meeting established outcomes.

Quantitative Research

A formal, objective, systematic process in which numerical data are gathered and analyzed to obtain information about the world.

Qualitative Research

A research method conducted to gain insight into human experiences, perspectives, and meanings through non-numerical narrative data.

Evidence-Based Practice (EBP)

A problem-solving approach to clinical decision-making that integrates the best available research evidence with clinical expertise and patient values.

PICOT Format

A structured mnemonic format used to formulate clinical research questions: Population/Patient, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome, and Timeframe.

Acute vs Chronic Illness Comparison Table

A comparative tool in health promotion used to differentiate illnesses based on features such as Onset, Duration, and Examples.