Chapter 3: Communication Skills

active listening

a way of communicating that involves giving a person one's full attention while e is speaking and encouraging him to give information and clarify ideas

adverse event

an unexpected event that causes serious injury or death; also called sentinel event

barrier

a block or an obstacle

body language

all of the conscious or unconscious messages a person's body sends as she communicates; facial expressions, gestures, and posture are examples

care conference

a meeting to share and gather information about a resident in order to develop a care plan

charting

the act of noting care and observations; documenting

code

in health care, an emergent medical situation in which specially trained responders provide the necessary care

code status

a formal documentation of the type and scope of care that should be provided to a particular resident in the event of cardiac or respiratory arrest, other catastrophic organ failure, or terminal illness

critical thinking

the process of reasoning and analyzing in order to solve problems; for the nursing assistant, critical thinking means making careful observations and immediately reporting all potential problems

culture

a set of learned beliefs, values, traditions, and behaviors shared by a social or ethnic group

edema

swelling in body tissues caused by excess fluid

incident

an accident, problem, or unexpected event that happens during the course of care

incident report

A report documenting an incident and the response to the incident; also called an occurrence, accident, accident/incident, or event report

medical chart

legal record of all medical care a patient, resident, or client receives

minimum data set (MDS)

a detailed form with guidelines for assessing residents in long-term care facilities; also details what to do if resident problems are identified

nonverbal communication

communication without using words, such as through gestures and facial expressions

nursing process

an organized method used by nurses to determine residents' needs, plan the appropriate care to meet those needs, and evaluate how well the plan of care is working; five steps are assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation

objective information

factual information collected using the senses of sight, hearing, smell, and touch; also called signs

orientation

a person's awareness of person, place and time

prefix

a word part that comes before the root to help form a new term

prioritize

to place things in order of importance

root

the main part of a word that contains its basic meaning or definition

rounds

scheduled visits to each resident's room to assess the resident's condition and needs and to discuss the care plan with participating

sentinel event

a unexpected event that causes serious injury or death; also called adverse event

subjective information

information collected from residents, their family members, and their friends; information may not be true, but is what the person reported, also called symptoms

suffix

a word part added to the end of a root or a prefix to create a new word

verbal communication

communication involving the use of spoken or written words or sounds, also called oral communication

vital signs

measurements-temperature, pulse rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure-that monitor the functioning of the vital organs of the body