VCE VET Health Services Assistance flashcards
VCE VET Health Services Assistance · Build recall with a focused review session.
32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- Scope of practice
- The range of tasks a health services assistant is trained, qualified, and authorised to perform, set by law, employer policy, and supervision arrangements.
- Duty of care
- A legal obligation to take reasonable steps to protect clients from foreseeable harm, balanced against the client's right to make informed choices.
- Mandatory reporting
- A legal requirement to report specified concerns, such as suspected abuse or neglect, to an authorised body even when the client asks for confidentiality.
- Informed consent
- Agreement given freely by a client with capacity after receiving adequate information about the proposed care, including risks and alternatives.
- Need-to-know principle
- Confidential client information is shared only with team members who require it to provide the client's care, and not with others.
- Objective documentation
- Recording only what is directly observed or measured, such as vital signs or wound appearance, without opinion or interpretation.
- Chain of command
- The defined line of reporting and supervision through which an assistant escalates concerns, questions, or tasks outside their role.
- Person-centred care
- Care planned around the client's own goals, values, culture, and preferences, with the client involved as a partner in decisions.
- Hierarchy of control
- A ranked order of risk controls from elimination and substitution down to administrative controls and PPE, used to select the most effective option.
- Sharps injury procedure
- After a needlestick: encourage bleeding, wash with soap and water, cover the wound, report immediately, and follow the exposure protocol including testing.
- Manual handling assessment
- Evaluating the load, client mobility, environment, and equipment before moving a person, then choosing aids such as hoists or slide sheets.
- Near miss
- An incident that did not cause harm but could have, and which must still be reported and recorded so the hazard can be controlled.
- PPE as last control
- Personal protective equipment sits lowest in the hierarchy of control because it protects only the wearer and fails if used incorrectly.
- Emergency code system
- Locally defined codes and alarms that alert staff to fire, medical emergencies, or aggression, with each service using its own meanings.
- Psychosocial hazard
- A workplace factor such as fatigue, stress, bullying, or occupational violence that can harm psychological and physical health.
- Incident report
- A factual written record of an event, made as soon as practicable, describing what happened, who was involved, and actions taken.
- Active listening
- A communication technique using open questions, paraphrasing, reflecting feelings, and summarising to confirm understanding of the client's message.
- Qualified interpreter
- A trained interpreter engaged for clinical or consent discussions when a client has limited English, rather than relying on family members.
- Open question
- A question that invites explanation rather than a yes or no answer, used to gather fuller information from a client.
- Dignity in personal care
- Protecting privacy by explaining each step, exposing only the area being cared for, closing curtains, and asking permission before touching.
- Aphasia
- A communication difficulty, often after stroke, affecting understanding or expression of language while the person's intelligence remains intact.
- Delirium
- A sudden change in attention and awareness, often with confusion, that is a medical emergency requiring prompt reporting.
- Subjective data
- Information the client reports about their own experience, such as pain level or nausea, recorded as what the client stated.
- Health literacy
- A person's ability to obtain and understand health information needed to make decisions, which shapes how instructions should be explained.
- Standard precautions
- Infection control measures applied to every client, including hand hygiene, PPE, sharps safety, waste handling, and equipment cleaning.
- Five Moments for Hand Hygiene
- Hand hygiene before touching a client, before a procedure, after body fluid risk, after touching a client, and after touching surroundings.
- Alcohol-based hand rub
- A hand hygiene product used on visibly clean hands; soap and water is required when hands are soiled or spores must be removed.
- Contact precautions
- Additional measures for organisms spread by touch, such as MRSA, including gloves, gowns, dedicated equipment, and single rooms where possible.
- Airborne precautions
- Extra controls for organisms spread by fine particles, such as tuberculosis, requiring a fit-tested respirator and a negative-pressure room.
- Aseptic technique
- Practices that keep invasive sites and sterile equipment free from microorganisms, discarding any sterile item that becomes contaminated.
- Sharps container
- A puncture-resistant, labelled bin for used needles and blades, filled only to the marked line and replaced when full.
- Cleaning before disinfection
- Removing visible soil first, because disinfectants cannot act effectively on organic matter and need the labelled contact time to work.