AMB-BC cheat sheet

Normal adult resting values: heart rate 60–100 bpm, respiratory rate 12–20/min, oral temperature about 36.1–37.2°C (97.0–99.0°F).

BMI formula: BMI = weight (kg) / height (m)^2; alternate BMI = 703 × weight (lb) / height (in)^2.

Orthostatic hypotension rule: systolic drop ≥20 mm Hg or diastolic drop ≥10 mm Hg within 3 minutes of standing.

Medication rights: patient, drug, dose, route, time, documentation; many settings add reason and response.

Hand hygiene moments: before touching a patient, before aseptic task, after body-fluid exposure, after patient contact, after touching surroundings.

Anaphylaxis decision rule: airway swelling, wheeze, or hypotension after exposure → stop trigger, call emergency response, give epinephrine per protocol.

Standard precautions apply to all patients; transmission-based precautions add contact, droplet, or airborne protection based on suspected pathogen.

Pain is a self-report; use numeric 0–10 for adults, Wong-Baker faces for children, and PAINAD for advanced dementia when self-report is unavailable.

Transition bundle: medication reconciliation, discharge summary, follow-up appointment, patient/caregiver education, and red-flag instructions.

SBAR handoff: Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation.

Warm handoff = live, interactive transfer between providers, in person or by phone, with opportunity for questions.

Medication reconciliation occurs at admission, transfer, and discharge; compare pre-admission list with active orders and resolve discrepancies.

Teach-back decision rule: patient explains plan in own words; if inaccurate, re-teach and re-check.

Readmission risk markers: polypharmacy, low health literacy, social isolation, recent hospitalization, multiple chronic conditions, limited caregiver support.

Discharge planning begins at admission and identifies DME, home health, transport, follow-up, medication access, and caregiver needs.

HIPAA treatment disclosures permit sharing minimum necessary information among treating providers for care coordination.

Ethics principles: autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice.

Informed consent elements: capacity, disclosure, understanding, voluntariness, authorization; patient may withdraw consent.

Scope of practice is set by state law, licensure, and employer policy; delegation cannot exceed the delegatee's legal scope.

Mandatory reporting includes suspected abuse/neglect and specified communicable diseases per state law.

Conflict of interest rule: disclose personal financial interest and recuse from the decision.

Just culture separates human error, at-risk behavior, and reckless behavior; reporting is encouraged and systems are fixed.

Incident report rule: record factual, objective details; do not place blame or speculate; incident reports are not part of the patient chart.

Leadership contingency: transformational for vision/change, transactional for clear rewards/performance, servant for team support and empowerment.

Health literacy universal precautions: assume all patients may struggle; use plain language, teach-back, and easy materials for everyone.

Plain language limits: short sentences, common words, 3–5 key points per teaching session.

Teach-back is the preferred confirmation method: patient restates plan; clinician re-teaches gaps.

Motivational interviewing OARS: open questions, affirmations, reflections, summaries; avoid arguing and roll with resistance.

Stages of change: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, relapse; match intervention to stage.

Learning domains: cognitive = knowledge, psychomotor = skills, affective = attitudes/confidence.

Adult learning principles: relevance, practicality, interactivity, respect, and use of patient experience.

Documentation of education: topic, method, materials, patient response, barriers, and follow-up plan.

PDSA: Plan-Do-Study-Act rapid-cycle improvement.

Root cause analysis follows sentinel events and focuses on system failures and contributing factors, not individual blame.

FMEA RPN = severity × occurrence × detection; higher RPN = higher priority.

Quality measure types: structure (resources), process (adherence), outcome (health result).

Sentinel event = unexpected death, serious injury, or risk thereof requiring immediate investigation.

Near miss = event that did not reach the patient or cause harm but had potential to do so.

DMAIC: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control.

Safety huddle = brief team meeting to identify risks, changes, and action items before or during care.

HIPAA Security Rule safeguards: administrative, physical, technical; examples include access controls, encryption, audit trails.

Minimum necessary standard: use/disclose only the least PHI needed for the purpose; treatment disclosures have special flexibility.

EHR correction rule: add a dated addendum; never delete or alter original entry; preserve audit trail.

Interoperability standards: HL7 and FHIR support exchange between EHRs and applications.

Telehealth documentation: modality, locations, consent, participants, findings, recommendations.

Unique user ID and automatic logoff are required access controls for ePHI.

HIE = health information exchange; consent and privacy rules govern sharing across organizations.

Audit trail = record of who accessed what and when; never share passwords or use another person's credentials.