Patient Care Technician Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards generated directly from defined terms in the Patient Care Tech unit notes.

Long-term care (LTC)

Care provided to people who need ongoing assistance with daily activities or medical needs, often because of aging, disability, or chronic illness.

Point-of-care tests

Medical tests performed close to or at the location where the patient is receiving care, such as a blood glucose test.

Charting

Recording information about a patient's condition, care, treatments, and responses in their medical record.

Assisted living facilities

Residential facilities where people receive help with daily activities while maintaining as much independence as possible.

Dementia

A general term for problems with memory, thinking, and reasoning that interfere with daily life.

Home health care

Health services provided to a person in their home, often for people recovering from illness, injury, or surgery.

Person-centered care

Care that focuses on the individual patient's needs, preferences, values, and choices.

Chain of command

The order of authority in an organization that determines who reports to whom and who should be contacted when problems occur.

Liability

Legal responsibility for an action or failure to act that causes harm.

Scope of practice

The specific duties and responsibilities that a healthcare worker is legally and professionally allowed to perform.

Delegation

The process of assigning a task to another healthcare worker who is qualified and allowed to perform it.

Professional

A person who follows the standards, responsibilities, and expectations of their occupation.

Personal

Relating to an individual's own feelings, beliefs, experiences, or life.

Professionalism

Behaving in a responsible, respectful, ethical, and appropriate manner while working.

Policy

A rule or guideline established by an organization that explains how something should be handled.

Confidential

Information that is private and should only be shared with authorized people.

Procedure

A specific set of steps used to perform a task correctly and safely.

Compassionate

Showing concern for another person's suffering and wanting to help.

Empathy

The ability to understand or share another person's feelings or experiences.

Sympathy

Feeling concern or sorrow for someone who is experiencing difficulty.

Tactful

Communicating or behaving carefully so that you do not unnecessarily offend or upset someone.

Conscientious

Being careful, responsible, dependable, and committed to doing your work correctly.

Continuing education (CE)

Additional education or training taken by healthcare professionals to maintain and improve their knowledge and skills.

Ethics

Principles that help determine what is right, fair, and responsible behavior.

Laws

Rules established and enforced by a government.

Advance directives

Legal documents that explain a person's wishes for medical treatment if they become unable to make decisions for themselves.

Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA)

A federal law requiring healthcare organizations to inform patients about their rights regarding healthcare decisions and advance directives.

Living will

An advance directive that states what medical treatments a person wants or does not want if they become unable to communicate their wishes.

Do not resuscitate (DNR)

An order stating that CPR should not be performed if a patient's heart stops beating or they stop breathing.

Do not intubate (DNI)

An order stating that a patient does not want to have a breathing tube placed to provide mechanical ventilation.

Durable power of attorney for health care

A legal document that allows a person to choose someone to make healthcare decisions for them if they become unable to make decisions themselves.

Physician’s Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST)

Medical orders that specify a seriously ill or medically fragile patient's wishes regarding life-sustaining treatments.

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

A federal law that protects patients' health information and establishes rules for maintaining privacy.

Protected health information (PHI)

Individually identifiable information about a person's health, healthcare, or payment for healthcare.

Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA)

A federal law that protects people from discrimination based on their genetic information in health insurance and employment.

Electronic health records (EHR)

Digital records containing a patient's health information that can be accessed by authorized healthcare providers.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)

A federal agency that administers programs such as Medicare and Medicaid and establishes healthcare standards.

Medicare

A federal health insurance program primarily for people age 65 and older and certain younger people with disabilities or specific conditions.

Medicaid

A government healthcare program that provides coverage to eligible people with limited income and certain other qualifying circumstances.

Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA)

Federal regulations that establish quality and safety standards for laboratory testing performed on human specimens.

Joint Commission

An organization that accredits healthcare organizations and evaluates them based on safety and quality standards.

Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI)

An organization that develops standards and guidelines to improve the quality and safety of laboratory testing.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

A federal law that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities and requires reasonable accommodations in many settings.

Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA)

A federal law requiring hospital emergency departments to provide an appropriate medical screening and stabilizing treatment to people with emergency medical conditions, regardless of their ability to pay.

Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS)

A standardized survey used to measure patients' experiences with hospital care.

Criminal law

Laws concerning actions considered crimes against society or the government.

Civil law

Laws concerning disputes between individuals or organizations, often involving compensation for harm or damages.

Negligence

Failure to provide the level of care that a reasonable person would provide, resulting in harm.

Abuse

Intentional or threatened harm to another person, including physical, emotional, sexual, or financial harm.

Assault

A threat or attempt to cause unwanted physical contact or harm.

Battery

Unwanted physical contact with another person without their consent.

Mandated reporter

A person who is legally required to report suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation to the appropriate authorities.

Neglect

Failure to provide necessary care, protection, or basic needs, resulting in or potentially causing harm.

Exploitation

Taking unfair or illegal advantage of another person, often for personal or financial gain.

Incident

An unexpected event that may cause or has caused harm, injury, or a problem.

Sentinel event

A serious unexpected event involving death, serious injury, or the risk of serious injury that requires immediate investigation.

Communication

The process of exchanging information, thoughts, and feelings between people.

Verbal communication

Communication using spoken or written words.

Nonverbal communication

Communication through body language, facial expressions, gestures, posture, eye contact, and tone.

Diversity

The presence of differences among people, including differences in culture, race, ethnicity, abilities, beliefs, and backgrounds.

Bias

A preference or prejudice for or against a person or group that may affect judgment or behavior.

Race

A social classification of people based on perceived physical characteristics, such as skin color or physical features.

Ethnicity

A person's identification with a group that shares characteristics such as ancestry, history, language, or cultural traditions.

Culture

The beliefs, values, customs, traditions, behaviors, and practices shared by a group of people.

Gender identity

A person's internal sense of their gender.

Sexual orientation

A person's pattern of romantic or sexual attraction to others.

Gay

A person who is romantically or sexually attracted primarily to people of the same gender.

Lesbian

A woman who is romantically or sexually attracted primarily to other women.

Straight

A person who is romantically or sexually attracted primarily to people of a different gender.

Bisexual

A person who experiences romantic or sexual attraction to more than one gender.

Pansexual

A person who may experience romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their gender.

Asexual

A person who experiences little or no sexual attraction to others.

Objective information

Information that can be observed, measured, or verified, such as a patient's temperature or blood pressure.

Subjective information

Information reported by the patient based on their own feelings, symptoms, or experiences, such as saying, "My stomach hurts."

Incontinence

The inability to control the release of urine or feces.

Cyanotic

A bluish or grayish color of the skin, lips, or nail beds that can indicate low oxygen levels.

Electronic medical records (EMR)

Digital versions of a patient's medical records used primarily within a particular healthcare organization or provider's system.

Physiological needs

Basic physical needs required for survival, such as oxygen, food, water, sleep, and elimination.

Psychosocial needs

Needs involving both a person's psychological and social well-being, such as belonging, emotional support, and relationships.

Holistic care

Care that considers the whole person, including physical, emotional, social, mental, and sometimes spiritual needs.

Cognitive

Related to mental processes such as thinking, learning, remembering, reasoning, and understanding.

Menopause

The natural stage when a person's menstrual periods permanently stop because of changes in reproductive hormones.

Developmental disabilities

Conditions that begin during the developmental period and can cause significant limitations in areas such as learning, communication, behavior, or daily living.

Mental health

A person's emotional, psychological, and social well-being.

Mental health disorder

A condition that significantly affects a person's thoughts, emotions, behavior, or ability to function.

Anxiety

A feeling of worry, fear, or nervousness that can occur in response to stress or perceived danger.

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)

A disorder involving excessive and persistent worry about multiple areas of life that is difficult to control.

Panic disorder

A disorder involving repeated unexpected panic attacks and ongoing concern about having additional attacks.

Social anxiety disorder

A disorder involving intense fear or anxiety about social situations or being judged by others.

Phobia

An intense, excessive, or irrational fear of a specific object, situation, or activity.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

A disorder involving unwanted recurring thoughts or urges (obsessions) and/or repetitive behaviors or mental acts (compulsions).

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

A disorder that can develop after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event and may involve intrusive memories, avoidance, and changes in mood or alertness.

Major depressive disorder/depression

A mental health disorder involving persistent sadness or loss of interest or pleasure along with other symptoms that affect daily functioning.

Bipolar disorder

A mental health disorder characterized by episodes of significant mood changes, including periods of mania or hypomania and periods of depression.

Schizophrenia

A serious mental health disorder that can affect thinking, perception, emotions, behavior, and a person's ability to distinguish reality from hallucinations or delusions.

Hallucination

A sensory experience that seems real but occurs without an actual external stimulus, such as hearing a voice when no one is speaking.

Delusion

A strongly held false belief that remains despite evidence showing that the belief is not true.

Psychotherapy

Treatment for mental health conditions that involves talking with a trained mental health professional.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)

A type of psychotherapy that focuses on identifying and changing unhelpful patterns of thoughts and behaviors.

Substance use disorder (SUD)

A condition in which a person's use of alcohol or drugs causes significant problems or difficulty controlling their use.