Health History and Vital Signs Vocabulary

A set of key medical vocabulary flashcards covering health history collection, data classification, and vital sign assessment principles based on lecture notes.

Subjective Data

Information provided verbally by the patient describing their symptoms, past medical history, and chief complaint.

Objective Data

Clinical information obtained directly by the healthcare professional through observation, physical examination, measurement, and laboratory test results.

Symptom

A subjective sensation or condition described directly by the client, such as pain, burning, or aching.

Sign

An objective abnormality detected by an examiner during physical examination or laboratory assessment, such as abdominal tenderness or increased white blood cell count.

Chief Complaint

The primary reason or problem for seeking health care, documented in the patient's exact words.

OLD CART

A mnemonic framework used to collect history of present illness data: Onset, Location, Duration, Character, Associated Manifestations, Relieving/Exacerbating Factors, and Treatment.

Core Temperature

The body temperature of deep body tissues, measured at core sites including the temporal artery, tympanic membrane, esophagus, rectum, and urinary bladder.

Surface Temperature

The temperature measured at superficial body sites, including the axilla, mouth, and skin.

Pyrexia

An elevation in body temperature above normal for an individual, commonly referred to as a fever.

Hyperthermia

An elevated body temperature greater than $104^\text{o}\text{F}$ resulting from a failure of the body's thermoregulatory mechanisms.

Hypothermia

A condition defined by a body core temperature dropping below $95^\text{o}\text{F}$, typically caused by cold environmental exposure.

Pulse

The palpable bounding of blood flow felt at various arterial locations throughout the body, providing an indicator of circulatory status.

Pulse Deficit

The numerical difference between the apical heart rate and radial pulse rate when assessed simultaneously by two nurses over $1\text{\thinspace minute}$.

Dysrhythmia

An irregular heart rhythm resulting from abnormal electrical activity in the heart.

Tachycardia

An elevated heart rate exceeding $100\text{\thinspace bpm}$ in adult patients.

Bradycardia

A heart rate below $60\text{\thinspace bpm}$ in adult patients.

Ventilation

The movement of air between the external environment and lungs during inspiration and expiration.

Diffusion

The passive exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen that occurs across the alveolar and capillary membranes.

Perfusion

The circulation of oxygenated red blood cells from pulmonary capillaries to peripheral tissues.

Eupnea

Normal, unlabored breathing featuring a normal rate and pattern.

Tachypnea

An abnormally increased respiratory rate greater than $20\text{\thinspace breaths/min}$ in adults with a regular pattern.

Bradypnea

An abnormally slow respiratory rate less than $12\text{\thinspace breaths/min}$ in adults with a regular pattern.

Apnea

The temporary or permanent absence of breathing.

Hyperpnea

A breathing pattern characterized by a normal rate accompanied by abnormally deep respirations.

Cheyne-Stokes Respirations

An irregular breathing pattern characterized by gradual increases and decreases in respiration depth with alternating periods of apnea.

Kussmaul Respirations

An abnormally deep and rapid breathing pattern (combining tachypnea and hyperpnea) associated with metabolic acidosis or diabetic ketoacidosis.

Biot's Respirations

A respiratory pattern marked by rapid, deep gasping breaths with short periods of apnea between sets.

Pulse Oximetry

A noninvasive technique for measuring arterial oxygen saturation ($\text{SaO}_2$) of hemoglobin.

Systolic Blood Pressure

The maximum pressure exerted against arterial walls during heart contraction and blood ejection into the aorta.

Diastolic Blood Pressure

The minimum pressure exerted against arterial walls while the ventricles relax between beats.

Pulse Pressure

The numerical difference between systolic and diastolic blood pressure measurements.

Cardiac Output

The volume of blood pumped by the heart in $1\text{\thinspace minute}$, equal to $\text{Stroke Volume} \times \text{Heart Rate}$.

Preload

The volume of blood filling the ventricle prior to cardiac contraction.

Afterload

The systemic vascular resistance the heart must overcome to pump blood into circulation.

Blood Pressure Cuff Sizing

The clinical requirement where cuff width is $40formatPercentage$ of arm circumference and bladder length encircles $80formatPercentage$ of an adult arm.

Hypertension

A condition characterized by persistently elevated blood pressure, defined as systolic BP greater than $140\text{\thinspace mmHg}$ or diastolic BP greater than $90\text{\thinspace mmHg}$.

Hypotension

Abnormally low blood pressure, typically defined as a blood pressure reading less than $90/60\text{\thinspace mmHg}$.

Orthostatic Hypotension

A drop in blood pressure marked by a decrease in systolic BP of at least $20\text{\thinspace mmHg}$ or diastolic BP of at least $10\text{\thinspace mmHg}$ within $1\text{\thinspace minute}$ of moving to a standing position.

FLACC Scale

A behavioral pain assessment tool for non-verbal or pediatric patients evaluating Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, and Consolability.