NUR205: Comprehensive Health and Physical Assessment - Neurologic, Musculoskeletal, and HEENT Systems

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering neurologic assessment, musculoskeletal anatomy and trauma, HEENT examinations, cranial nerve functions, and related pathological conditions based on NUR205 lecture series and clinical workbook assignments.

Afferent Neurons

Sensory nerves that receive and transmit electrochemical impulses from the body to the brain.

Efferent Neurons

Motor nerves that carry electrochemical impulses from the brain outward to the body.

Broca's Area

An area located in the frontal lobe of the cerebrum that mediates speech production.

Wernicke's Area

An area situated in the temporal lobe of the cerebrum responsible for language comprehension.

Hypothalamus

A brain structure that maintains homeostasis by influencing autonomic functions such as respiration, temperature, appetite, sex drive, and heart rate, while regulating the anterior and posterior pituitary hormones.

Cerebellum

A brain structure located beneath the occipital lobe directly involved in coordinating voluntary movements, balance, posture, and motor skills.

Postictal Phase

A temporary group of symptoms felt immediately following a seizure before returning to baseline, commonly presenting as exhaustion, confusion, sore muscles, increased lethargy, and slurred speech.

Alert

A level of consciousness defined by being awake, having eyes open, answering questions appropriately, and remaining aware of external and internal stimuli.

Lethargic

A level of consciousness characterized by excessive drowsiness, difficulty keeping eyes open or staying awake, and drifting off when not stimulated, but able to awaken to verbal stimuli.

Obtunded

A level of consciousness where the individual sleeps most of the time, demonstrates no interest in surroundings, and responds only to loud name calling or vigorous shaking.

Stuporous

A level of consciousness marked by little response to verbal stimuli, requiring persistent, vigorous, or painful stimulation to evoke a response, and often responding only with moans.

Comatose

A level of consciousness characterized by being completely unable to be aroused, displaying no response to internal or external stimuli.

Orientation Status (A&Ox1 through A&Ox4)

A progressive mental status measurement assessing orientation to Person (Name & DOB), Place (Location, Unit/Facility), Time (Day of week, Date, Season), and Situation (Medical diagnosis, reason for care).

Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS)

A standardized scoring tool evaluating eye opening (1–4), verbal response (1–5), and motor response (1–6); total scores range from 3 to 15, where 15 is the best response, 8 or less indicates a comatose client, and 3 is totally unresponsive.

PERRLA

An assessment acronym indicating that the pupils are clear, Equal (between $1\text{ to }5\text{ mm}$ in diameter), Round, Reactive to Light (both directly and consensually), and show Accommodation (pupils dilate for distant gaze, then converge and constrict for near focus).

Expressive Aphasia

A communication impairment in which the patient understands spoken and written language but cannot express thoughts verbally or through transcription.

Receptive Aphasia

A communication impairment in which the patient cannot comprehend written or spoken language; although speech flows fluently and effortlessly, words are incorrect or made up.

Global Aphasia

A severe language deficit that encompasses components of both expressive aphasia and receptive aphasia.

Apraxia

A motor speech disorder characterized by a lack of coordinated muscle movement necessary to articulate sounds properly.

Dysarthria

A motor speech impairment caused by weak, slow, or paralyzed muscles involved in speech articulation.

Deep Tendon Reflex (DTR) Grading Scale

A 4-point clinical scale for evaluating tendon reflex responses: 4+ = Brisk/Hyperactive, 3+ = Brisker than average, 2+ = Average (Normal), 1+ = Diminished, and 0 = No Response.

Clonus

A repeated, rapid, rhythmic contraction of a muscle elicited during reflex testing.

Romberg's Test

A stationary balance assessment performed by having the patient stand with feet together, arms at sides, and eyes closed, while the examiner observes for unsteadiness or loss of balance.

Babinski Test

A neurological reflex examination where a blunt object is stroked upward along the lateral border of the sole of the foot from heel to big toe base to assess toe movement.

Directional Anatomical Terms

Medial (toward midline), Lateral (away from midline), Proximal (closer to body center), Distal (farther from body center), Superior (above/toward top), and Inferior (below/toward bottom).

Tendons

Connective tissue bands that attach muscle to bone to assist in skeletal movement.

Ligaments

Fibrous connective tissues that connect bone to bone, supporting joints and preventing unwanted joint motion.

Cartilage

A flexible connective tissue structure that cushions joints and prevents opposing bones from rubbing directly against each other.

Hematopoiesis

The physiological formation and production of red blood cells (RBCs), white blood cells (WBCs), and platelets within the bone marrow.

Vertebral Column Divisions

The stacked skeletal support structure composed of 33 vertebrae: 7 Cervical, 12 Thoracic, 5 Lumbar, 5 Sacral, and 3 to 4 Coccygeal.

Crepitus

An audible or palpable crunching or grating sensation produced by the movement of joint surfaces against each other.

Abduction

Movement of an extremity or digit laterally away from the midline of the body.

Adduction

Movement of an extremity or digit inward toward or across the midline of the body.

Pronation

Rotational movement of the forearm that directs the palm downward.

Supination

Rotational movement of the forearm that directs the palm upward.

Muscle Strength Grading Scale

A 5-point scale rating prime mover muscle strength: Grade 5 = Full ROM against gravity, full resistance ($100\%$ Normal); Grade 4 = Full ROM against gravity, some resistance ($75\%$ Good); Grade 3 = Full ROM with gravity ($50\%$ Fair); Grade 2 = Full ROM with gravity eliminated ($25\%$ Poor); Grade 1 = Slight contraction ($10\%$ Trace); Grade 0 = No contraction ($0\%$ Zero).

Kyphosis

An exaggerated posterior thoracic curvature of the spine commonly observed as a postural change in aging adults due to declining bone mineral density.

Avulsion / Degloving

A severe mechanism of mechanical trauma involving the forceful stretching and tearing away of skin and soft tissue from deeper anatomical structures.

Dehiscence

The partial or complete spontaneous separation of a surgical incision that had previously been closed, or the bursting open of a closed anatomical structure releasing its contents.

Evisceration

The outward protrusion of internal visceral organs (typically abdominal) through a separated or opened surgical wound.

Fasciotomy

A surgical incision made through restrictive fascia to relieve elevated pressure in a muscle compartment, prevent necrosis, and restore arterial and venous blood flow.

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

Damage occurring to the brain caused by an external mechanical force, such as a blow, jolt, or penetrating object, ranging from mild concussions to severe long-term cognitive and physical deficits.

Coup/Contrecoup Injury

Dual brain contusions occurring from a single blunt head trauma, wherein the coup injury develops at the point of direct impact, and the contrecoup injury occurs on the opposite side as the brain accelerates and strikes the inner cranium.

Strabismus

An ocular motility disorder wherein the optical axes of the eyes do not align toward the same point simultaneously, presenting as esotropia (inward), exotropia (outward), hypotropia (downward), or hypertropia (upward).

Diplopia

The perception of two images of a single object, clinically referred to as double vision.

Cataracts

An ocular pathology marked by a cloudy, opaque opacity developing over the crystalline lens of one or both eyes.

Glaucoma

An eye condition typically characterized by elevated intraocular pressure that initially manifests as peripheral vision loss.

Macular Degeneration

A degenerative disease of the retina leading to gradual destruction and loss of central vision, potentially progressing to complete blindness.

Diabetic Retinopathy

A vascular retinal disease in patients with diabetes presenting with symptoms such as floaters, spots, and generalized blurred vision.

Lacrimal Apparatus

The anatomical structures that produce, distribute, and drain tears, consisting of the lacrimal glands, lacrimal puncta, lacrimal canals, and the nasolacrimal duct.

Ishihara Test

A specialized clinical vision test using multicolored dot pseudoisochromatic plates to assess for color blindness.

Whisper Test

An auditory acuity test conducted by occluding one ear and whispering words $1\text{ to }2\text{ feet}$ away from the unoccluded ear while shielding the lips from view.

Rinne Test

A hearing assessment that places a vibrating tuning fork on the mastoid process until sound ceases, then immediately positions it near the external auditory canal to compare bone conduction against air conduction.

Weber Test

A hearing evaluation in which a vibrating tuning fork is placed on the midline vertex of the skull to determine if sound is perceived equally in both ears or lateralizes to one side.

Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV)

A peripheral vestibular dysfunction occurring when displaced calcium carbonate crystals (otoconia) enter the semicircular canals, resulting in transient spinning sensations and acute dizziness with head position changes.

Tinnitus

A subjective auditory sensation characterized by persistent perception of sound, such as ringing, buzzing, or hissing in the ears, in the absence of an external acoustic source.

Epistaxis

The clinical term for bleeding originating from within the nasal cavity or nostrils.

Dysphagia

Difficulty or discomfort experienced during the movement of liquids or solids from the mouth to the stomach.

Sublingual Mucosa

The specialized, highly vascular mucous membrane tissue situated on the underside of the tongue and floor of the oral cavity.

Lymphatic System

A network of tissues, vessels, and organs responsible for filtering fluids, defending against infection, and detecting and eliminating foreign substances from the body.