Nursing Assistant Lecture Notes: Chapters 4-59

Vocabulary practice cards covering delegation, ethics, communication, anatomy, safety, and emergency procedures for nursing assistants.

Routine nursing task

A task that is part of a nursing assistant's routine job description and usually assigned to the nursing assistant.

Delegation

The process a nurse uses to direct a nursing assistant to perform a nursing task.

Five Rights of Delegation

The right task, the right circumstances, the right person, the right directions and communication, and the right supervision.

Ethics

Knowledge of what is right conduct and wrong conduct.

Professional boundaries

Separate helpful actions and behaviors from those that are not helpful.

Boundary crossing

A brief act or behavior of being over-involved with a person.

Boundary violation

An act or behavior that meets your own needs but not the person's.

Professional sexual misconduct

An act, behavior, or comment that is sexual in nature.

Criminal laws

Laws concerned with offenses against the public and society in general.

Civil law

Law directed toward the relationships between people.

Negligence

An unintentional wrong meaning the person did not intend to cause harm.

Malpractice

Negligence by a professional person because of their education.

Standard of care

Laws, textbooks, agency policies, and procedures that guide how a task should be performed.

Libel

Making false statements in print, writing, through pictures, drawings, broadcast, online, or social media.

Slander

Making false statements through speaking, sign language, or gestures.

HIPAA

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act that protects the privacy and security of health information.

Informed consent

The process by which a person receives and understands information about a treatment and decides if they want to receive it.

Abuse

The willful infliction of injury, unreasonable confinement, intimidation, or punishment resulting in physical harm, pain, or mental anguish.

Vulnerable adults

People who are $18$ or older who have disabilities or conditions that make them at risk to be injured.

Elder abuse

Any knowing, intentional, or negligent act by a caregiver or anyone else to an older adult causing harm or serious risk of harm.

Abandonment

Deserting or leaving a vulnerable adult alone without anyone being responsible for that person.

Intimate partner violence

Occurs in relationships where one partner has control over the other through violence, stalking, or aggression.

Communication

The exchange of information where a message sent is received and correctly interpreted by the intended person.

Holism

A concept that considers the whole person with physical, social, psychological, and spiritual parts woven together.

Optimal level of function

A person's highest potential for their mental and physical performance.

Disability

Any lost, absent, or impaired physical or mental function.

Comatose

Being unable to respond to stimuli.

Prefix

A word element at the beginning of a word that changes its meaning.

Four Abdominal Regions

Right upper quadrant (RUQ), left upper quadrant (LUQ), right lower quadrant (RLQ), and left lower quadrant (LLQ).

Anterior (Ventral)

At or toward the front of the body or body part.

Posterior (Dorsal)

At or toward the back of the body or body part.

Proximal

The part nearest to the center or to the point of attachment.

Distal

The part farthest from the center or from the point of attachment.

Admission

The official entry of a person into a health care setting.

Transfer

Moving the person to another health care setting or a new room within the same agency.

Discharge

The official departure of a person from a health care setting.

Lithotomy position

The woman lies on her back with hips at the edge of the table, knees flexed, hips rotated, and feet in stirrups.

Elective surgery

Surgery done by choice to improve life or well-being.

Urgent surgery

Surgery that is needed for health.

Emergency surgery

Surgery done at once to save life or function.

Surgical site infection

An infection that appears after surgery in the body part where the surgery took place.

Thrombus

A blood clot; signs include a swollen area of the leg, pain, tenderness, and warmth.

Embolus

A blood clot that travels through the vascular system until it lodges in a blood vessel.

Terminal illness

An illness or injury from which the person will not likely recover.

Palliative care

Care to relieve or reduce the intensity of uncomfortable symptoms without producing a cure.

Hospice care

Focus on physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs of dying persons and their families.

The Five Stages of Dying

Stage 1: denial, Stage 2: anger, Stage 3: bargaining, Stage 4: depression, and Stage 5: acceptance.

Advance directive

A legal document stating a person's wishes about health care when they are unable to make decisions.

Living will

A document about measures that support or maintain life when death is likely.

Rigor mortis

The stiffness or rigidity of skeletal muscles that occurs after death.

Medical record

A written or electronic account of a person's condition and response to treatment.

Objective data

Information that has been seen, heard, felt, or smelled by an observer.

Subjective data

Information that someone has told you which cannot be observed through your senses.

Nursing diagnosis

Describes a health issue that can be treated by nursing measures.

Minimum Data Set (MDS)

An assessment tool that provides information and is updated before each care conference.

Homeostasis

A steady state for the human body.

Epithelial tissue

Tissue that covers internal and external body surfaces.

Connective tissue

Tissue that anchors, connects, and supports other tissues.

Integumentary system

The largest system, consisting of the epidermis (outer layer) and dermis (inner layer).

Sphincter

A circular muscle used to constrict a passage or close a natural body opening.

Central Nervous System (CNS)

One of the two main divisions of the nervous system.

Hemoglobin

A substance in red blood cells (RBCs) that carries oxygen and gives blood its red color.

Diastole

The resting phase of the heart.

Systole

The working phase of the heart.

Peristalsis

Involuntary muscle contractions in the digestive system that move food through the alimentary canal.

Nephron

The basic working unit of the kidney.

Dementia

The loss of cognitive and social function caused by changes in the brain.

Paraplegia

Paralysis in the legs and lower trunk.

Quadriplegia

Paralysis in the arms, legs, and trunk.

FBAO

Foreign-body airway obstruction.

Cyanotic

A bluish color of the skin.

RACE

Rescue, Alarm, Confine, Extinguish.

PASS

Pull the safety pin, Aim low, Squeeze the lever, Sweep back and forth.

Elopement

When a patient or resident leaves the agency without staff knowledge.

Enabler

A device that limits freedom of movement but is used to promote independence, comfort, or safety.

Entrapment

Getting caught or entangled in spaces created by bed rails, the mattress, or the frame.

Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA)

When the heart stops suddenly and without warning.

Hemorrhage

The excessive loss of blood in a short amount of time.

Anaphylaxis

A life-threatening sensitivity to an antigen.

Tonic-clonic (Grand Mal) seizure

A seizure where muscles become stiff, the person loses consciousness, and then jerking movements occur.

Hypothermia

Abnormally low body temperature.