Medical Terminology For Nurses- Part 2

The aim of this learning module are for you to develop an understanding of medical terminology and to be able to identify the meaning of unfamiliar terms by using a structured approach to break down the term into its component parts and then deduce its meaning.



There are four types of word parts used in different combinations to form medical terms and language.

1. Word roots




2. Suffixes




3. Combining vowels




4. Prefixes

The words or terms used may seem long and strange. Let's have an example.

Osteoarthritis

This term is actually composed of different word elements, each with a specific meaning.

Eg: Oste + arthr + itis

Oste relates to bone

arthr refers to a joint, and

itis means inflammation.

Therefore osteoarthritis means inflammation of the bone and joint. These word elements comes from Greek and Latin words. Therefore, you will need to know the English translations for these word elements. By knowing the different word parts (such as oste and arthr) you can easily identify the meaning of a wide range of medical terms, even if you have never seen or heard of the term before.

A Guide to Medical Terminology For Nurses- Part 1

The ability to communicate effectively with other health professionals and the ability to accurately describe observations and events are important skills for nurses. Health professionals use a standard structured way of describing events or conditions and are therefore able to communicate accurately and concisely with each other. For example, a nurse may describe a patient's pulse as bradycardic, and this conveys a specific message ( a slow heart rate) to other health professionals familiar with medical language and terminology. Initially, the terms may seem complex and difficult to understand, but by using a structured approach with some knowledge of the meanings of the different parts of the term, you will be able to understand and communicate effectively in the clinical enviroment.

A Nurse

A nurse can become work as :-

• Midwife
• Health Visitor
• Children's Nurse
• Adult Nurse
• Learning Disability Nurse
• Mental Health Nurse
• School Nurse
• Occupatunational Health Nurse
• District Nurse
• Practice Nurse
• Research Nurse
• Nurse Educator
• Specialist Nurse
• Nurse Consultant
• Nurse Practitoner
• Prison Nurse
• Manager
• Nurse Leturer
• Matron
• Enrolled Nurse
• Assistance In Nursing
• Registered Nurse

I will explain in details on the job function individually in next post.

What kinds of jobs are there for nurses?

As a nurse,you can work in many different areas and with many different people.There are now for difference basic branches in nursing.During your pre-registration course you can become :-

• a children's nurse
• an adult nurse
• a learning disabilitynurse
• an a mental health nurse

You will need to choose usually when you apply which branch of nursing you want to enter.If you are unhappy of find yourselfvery interesred in another branch,you may be able to change.The sooner you do this ,the easier it will be.

Why choose nursing as a course of study?

Nursing as profession that focuses on the caring,nuturing,educating and research aspect of healthcare system.People who are caring,dedicated,posseses leadership and have a calling to serve the sick and improve their care should their consider using these unique qualities by choosing nursing as a career.Nursing teaches how to use minds,hands and hearts and caring for those in need.This course focuses in developing nurses who are caring,assertive,well-dicipline,motivated and equipped with critical thinking skills.

Why Choose nursing as a career?

Nursing now is different from nursing in the past. Through improved education,nurses are better prepared to take up the challenge of a career in nursing which offers a breath of opportunity in education, clinical practice, research and management. A nurse may aspire to be a university professor, a clinical specialist, a director of nursing or a researcher. An experienced nurse may also run her own nursing home or nursery and there are opportunities to pursue a career abroad.

What is a real nurse?

The public image of nursing can be fictional and has nothing to do with what happens in the 'real world' of nursing. Just do a search in the internet on nurse, and you see a lot of the results are sex symbolic related. Nurses are also being perceived as the handmaiden, where they only take orders from doctors. But in reality, nursing itself is a profession. A nurse is to stand with the patient, where science and technology interact with human suffering, and human hope for achieving wellness. A nurse makes difference between life and death, pain and comfort, healing, coping and despair. She educates clients and families about how to maintain health. She is the real bottom line in health care. She is there to provide 'connective tissue or glue that holds everything together'. Nursing at its core, is an intellectual, emotional, moral, ethical and polictical activity.

Origin of term 'Nurse'

The word nurse is of late Middle English:Contraction of ealier nourice from old french,from late latin nutricia,feminine of latin nutricious '(person) that nourishes 'from nutrix,nutric-'nurse'which is by haplology from nutri-trix =she who 'nourishes",from nutrire=to 'nourish' and originally meant a wet nurse.

Term Nurse

A nurse is a health care professional who is engaged in the practice of nursing.Nurses are reponsible along with other healthcare professional for the treatment,safety and recovery of acutely or chronically ill or injured people,health mainatenance of the healthy,treatment of life-threatening in wide range of health care settings.Nurses may also be involved in medical and nursing research and perform a wide range of non clinical funtion necessary to delivery of health care.