You want to go to nursing school but are concerned about all the new words you must learn. Watching TV shows about doctors hasn't helped you feel better about understanding medical words. Every job has some unique words that sound confusing, and nursing is no different.
There is enough to consider when considering nursing school without worrying about weird words. Medical words confuse you sometimes if you are not familiar with the terminology. Whether in the medical field or seeing medical shows, catching up with tricky terms and acronyms is frustrating.
That is why many students take the help of online nursing dissertations help UK experts. They are well-versed in the terminology of nursing and will help you add them correctly to the glossary of your nursing assignments.
Top 21 Nursing Terms to Add to the Glossary of Your Nursing Assignment
You probably already know some essential words, but there's always more to learn. The following is a list of critical medical terms with simple definitions to help you get started.
1. Ad lib
"Ad lib" refers to "as much as you want." Nurses use this expression to show that patients can do something whenever they feel like it. For example, a nurse might say a patient can eat ad-lib after an operation.
2. Alert
Alert means a patient is awake and knows what is happening around them. An alert patient listens and understands directions. This is the opposite of an unresponsive patient, who might be unconscious or confused.
3. Ambulate
Ambulation refers to a patient's ability to walk around on one's own. If a nurse replies that a patient is ambulatory, this means the patient can move about with little help, which tells other nurses that the patient doesn't need as much watching.
4. Banana Bag
A banana bag is a special IV bag filled with vitamins, minerals, and water. It is often yellow, like a banana. Nurses use banana bags to rehydrate patients and give them more nutrients, which helps their muscles and nerves stay healthy.
5. Bandemia
Bandemia occurs when too many white blood cells flow in a patient's blood. This generally means the patient has an infection or inflammation. Use help from my assignment help UK experts to add this correctly to the glossary of your nursing assignment.
6. Code Brown
Code brown is what nurses say when there's an emergency with someone who can't control going to the bathroom. Code brown can sometimes mean a big outside emergency like a tornado, flood, or car crash. Nurses can tell the difference because they use code brown in different ways.
7. Frequent Flyer
A frequent flyer is a patient who comes to the hospital or clinic frequently. Nurses use this term so their coworkers know to take extra care of these patients. They also help frequent flyers manage their symptoms so they don't have to come in as often.
8. Hat
A hat is a tool that fits inside a toilet to collect patient samples. Nurses use hats to check patients closely and send samples to the lab. Nurses put hats in toilets to see if a patient might be sick.
9. ileus
An ileus means blockage to the intestines of a patient. Nurses must raise the alarm by writing it down to render extra care to such patients. Nurses should know what an ileus is due to its complications and monitor symptoms.
10. In Vitro
In vitro means something from a lab. Nurses use this word when waiting for laboratory test results from patients' samples. This term is also utilized in fertility clinics, wards where babies stay, and when discussing the babies that were made in support of IVF.
11. In Vivo
It is the opposite of in vitro. In vivo refers to something happening inside a living thing. Nurses and doctors use this term to talk about babies that grow inside a mother's womb. Use my assignment help UK to understand this term further.
12. Pre-op
Pre-op means before an operation. This is what transpires to a patient before having surgery. Nurses use this when talking to other nurses to explain things to patients and their families. For example, a nurse tells a patient not to eat pre-op.
13. Post-op
Post-op means after an operation. This is what you do with the patient after surgery. It is the term the nurses use to let patients know what they will need to do regarding their care following surgery. A nurse should instruct a patient, "Shower rather than bathe post-op to keep stitches dry."
14. Total
Nurses use the word "total" to talk about a patient who needs a lot of care. This can include patients who need IVs, help with eating, and other medical treatments. This word helps nurses and doctors understand how much care a patient needs.
15. Walkie-talkie
A walkie-talkie patient is one who doesn't need much help. These patients can talk, eat by themselves, and walk without help. Walkie-talkie patients are often ready to go home soon, so nurses tell each other this so the next nurse knows to prepare for the patient to leave the hospital.
16. Waste
When nurses administer strong medications, not all of the medications are commonly used on the patient. For safety, nurses can't use the remainder of that medicine on another patient. It must be discarded. Nurses refer to this as "waste." They always ask another nurse to watch them throw it away to be safe.
Medical Terms for Patient Status
The following are some of the nursing terms used while addressing a patient's current condition.
17. Acute: A patient with a sudden problem who needs help immediately.
18. Observation: A patient who stays at the hospital for a short time so doctors can decide whether to keep them longer or send them home.
19. Critical: A patient whose vital signs are very bad, and they might be unconscious.
20. Outpatient: One admitted to a hospital or visited a clinic but does not stay overnight. This may be a check-up case, same-day surgery, or even an emergency patient.
21. Inpatient: A patient who gets admitted to the hospital overnight.
Final Thoughts
These were just some of the valuable nursing terms to help you in nursing school and beyond. However, if you want a job in healthcare, there is still so much more to learn. You now know a few nursing words, but becoming a nurse will take much more training than just that. You will have to complete a dissertation to prove what you have learned, too. For this, you can take the help of online nursing dissertation help UK experts.