Doctors diagnose, but nurses do many of the medical procedures you will receive at a hospital. If you want to help people and would like a little more time with patients, a career in nursing might be for you. But what if your patient only speaks English? Learn words related to this field of study with this handy glossary of nursing terms.
Glossary
- advice
- Guidance or recommendations concerning prudent future action, typically given by someone regarded as knowledgeable or authoritative.
- antibody
- A blood protein produced in response to and counteracting a specific antigen.
- asthma
- A respiratory condition marked by spasms in the bronchi of the lungs, causing difficulty in breathing. It usually results from an allergic reaction or other forms of hypersensitivity.
- bandage
- A strip of cloth or other material used to bind up a wound, sore, sprain, etc.
- blood
- The red liquid that circulates in the arteries and veins of humans and other vertebrate animals, carrying oxygen to and carbon dioxide from the tissues of the body.
- blood pressure monitor
- A device used to measure blood pressure, composed of an inflatable cuff to restrict blood flow, and a mercury or mechanical manometer to measure the pressure. This device is also called a sphygmomanometer.
- bloodstream
- The blood circulating through the body of a person or animal.
- bone
- Any of the pieces of hard, whitish tissue making up the skeleton in humans and other vertebrates.
- brain damage
- An injury to the brain that impairs its functions, esp. permanently.
- care
- Protection; charge.
- chart
- A sheet listing information in tabular form.
- checkup
- A thorough examination, esp. a medical or dental one.
- clinical
- Pertaining to a medical clinic.
- diabetes
- Any of several disorders characterized by increased urine production.
- diagnosis
- The identification of the nature of an illness or other problem by examination of the symptoms.
- disease
- A disorder of structure or function in a human, animal, or plant, esp. one that produces specific signs or symptoms or that affects a specific location and is not simply a direct result of physical injury.
- drugs
- A chemical substance used in the treatment, cure, prevention, or diagnosis of disease or used to otherwise enhance physical or mental well-being.
- emergency care
- Life-saving measures in life-threatening situations.
- H1N1
- A type of highly contagious respiratory disease that causes symptoms similar to those of the seasonal influenza in people.
- health
- The state of being free from illness or injury.
- home care
- Pertaining to, or designating care, especially medical care, given or received at home: a member of the hospital’s home-care staff.
- hospital
- An institution in which sick or injured people are given medical or surgical treatment.
- hypoglycemia
- Deficiency of glucose in the bloodstream.
- immune system
- A system (including the thymus and bone marrow and lymphoid tissues) that protects the body from foreign substances and pathogenic organisms by producing the immune response.
- infection
- An infecting with germs of disease, as through the medium of infected insects, air, water, or clothing.
- infirmary
- A place in a large institution for the care of those who are ill.
- intravenous
- Administered into a vein or veins.
- masks
- A covering for all or part of the face to prevent infection.
- morphine
- The most important narcotic and addictive principle of opium, obtained by extraction and crystallization and used chiefly in medicine as a pain reliever and sedative.
- nurse
- A person formally educated and trained in the care of the sick or infirm.
- palliative care
- An area of healthcare that focuses on relieving and preventing the suffering of patients.
- patience
- The quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like.
- patient
- A person who is under medical care or treatment.
- pharmacy
- A store that sells drugs.
- prescription
- A written direction by the physician to the pharmacist for the preparation of a medicine or remedy to be used by a particular patient.
- procedure
- A particular course or mode of action
- stethoscope
- A medical instrument for listening to the action of someone’s heart or breathing, typically having a small disk-shaped resonator that is placed against the chest and two tubes connected to earpieces.
- stretcher
- A frame with two poles and a long piece of canvas slung between them, used for carrying sick, injured, or dead people, or a similar device on wheels, adapted for use in ambulances and hospitals.
- surgery
- The treatment of injuries or disorders of the body by incision or manipulation, with instruments.
- syringe
- A small device consisting of a glass, metal, or hard rubber tube, narrowed at its outlet, and fitted with either a piston or a rubber bulb for drawing in a quantity of fluid or for ejecting fluid in a stream, for cleaning wounds, injecting fluids into the body, etc.
- thermometer
- An instrument for measuring somebody’s temperature.
- treatment
- Management in the application of medicines, surgery, etc.
- vaccination
- Taking a vaccine as a precaution against contracting a disease.
- vaccine
- A substance used to stimulate the production of antibodies and provide immunity against one or several diseases, prepared from the causative agent of a disease, its products, or a synthetic substitute, treated to act as an antigen without inducing the disease.
- veins
- Any of the tubes forming part of the blood circulation system of the body, carrying in most cases oxygen-depleted blood toward the heart.
- wheelchair
- A chair built on wheels for an invalid or disabled person, pushed by another person or propelled by the occupant, or motorized.
- wound
- An injury to living tissue caused by a cut, blow, or other impact, typically one in which the skin is cut or broken.
