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4.5: Key Terms

  • Page ID
    105150
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    advance directive
    legal document that lists the patient’s wishes regarding life-sustaining medical treatments
    age of majority
    defined by each U.S. state as the age at which one can make their own decisions, including health-care decisions
    alternative substance
    nonregulated herbal substance or homeopathic medication
    chief complaint
    statement of the signs and symptoms that have led the patient to seek medical attention
    collaborative problem
    a certain physiological response the nurse monitors that can be addressed through nursing intervention and physician-prescribed treatments
    demographic data
    identifying basic patient information
    electronic health record (EHR)
    digital format of a patient’s chart that contains data related to the patient’s medical history, diagnoses, medications, treatment plans, immunization dates, allergies, radiology images, and laboratory and test results
    electronic medical record (EMR)
    single facility’s digital version of a patient’s chart
    familial disease
    disease that tends to occur often in particular families
    health information exchange (HIE)
    vehicle for doctors, nurses, patients, and other interdisciplinary healthcare members to access and securely share critical healthcare information electronically, improving the speed, quality, safety, and cost of patient care
    Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act
    a law that promotes meaningful ways to incorporate health information technology while still protecting patients’ privacy rights
    Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act(HIPAA)
    law that details national standards for electronic healthcare transactions and protection of privacy for health information
    health record
    collection of subjective and clinical information pertaining to a patient’s physical and mental health, compiled from a variety of sources
    healthcare informatics
    field that incorporates health care and computer and information sciences
    hereditary disease
    disease passed down from generation to generation
    initial health assessment
    systematic and purposeful collection and analysis of patient information
    interoperability
    the ability to share patient information across multiple healthcare systems in digital format
    meaningful use
    using electronic health information in a meaningful way to improve patient care
    medical power of attorney
    legal document that outlines who can make medical decisions on behalf of the patient in the event they cannot do so themselves
    minimum data set (MDS)
    standard established by healthcare institutions that specifies the information that must be collected from every patient
    nursing diagnosis
    clinical judgment based on the medical diagnosis of a patient that helps the nurse determine the plan of care
    objective data (also, signs)
    information observed through your senses of hearing, sight, smell, and touch while assessing the patient
    over-the-counter medication
    medication that does not require a prescription
    Patient Care Partnership
    document that tells the patient what to expect while receiving medical care under the organization and outlines their rights; formerly called a Patient Bill of Rights
    physical finding
    the assessment of a body system
    primary source
    the patient
    secondary source
    information obtained from the history section of the health record, or the patient’s family
    signs (also, objective data)
    information observed through your senses of hearing, sight, smell, and touch while assessing the patient
    subjective data (also, symptom)
    information obtained from the patient and/or family members and can provide important cues about functioning and unmet needs requiring assistance
    subpoena duces tecum
    court order to produce documents or records
    symptom (also, subjective data)
    information obtained from the patient and/or family members and can provide important cues about functioning and unmet needs requiring assistance
    treatment plan
    used to increase patient outcomes related to a specific disease or condition
    usability
    extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use
    vital sign
    a marker of physiological homeostasis and essential in the analysis of monitoring patient progress; obtained by measuring body temperature, pulse, respiratory rate, and blood pressure

    This page titled 4.5: Key Terms is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by OpenStax via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.

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