CNA Gerontological Nursing key terms

A sudden, fluctuating change in attention and awareness, often caused by infection, dehydration, pain, or medication, that develops over hours to days and is a medical emergency needing prompt reporting.

A gradual, progressive loss of memory, reasoning, and daily functioning caused by brain disease, not a normal part of aging, and usually irreversible.

A persistent low mood, loss of interest, poor appetite, sleep change, or hopelessness lasting weeks; in older adults it may appear as body complaints or withdrawal rather than sadness.

Normal aging shifts such as reduced hearing for high pitches, dimmer vision, slower pupil adjustment, and decreased taste and smell, which raise fall and safety risk.

Age-related hearing loss that makes high-pitched sounds and speech in background noise hard to hear; speaking lower, slower, and face-to-face helps.

Adjusting how you speak for a resident's needs: facing the person, getting attention first, using short sentences, one question at a time, and allowing extra time to answer.

Loss or impairment of language after brain injury or stroke, affecting speaking, understanding, reading, or writing; the person's intelligence is not reduced.

Purposeful conversation that builds trust, such as open-ended questions, restating, reflecting feelings, and silence, rather than giving advice or false reassurance.

Giving full attention, making eye contact, nodding, and paraphrasing what the resident said to confirm understanding and show respect.

Basic self-care tasks: bathing, dressing, grooming, eating, toileting, and transferring. Nursing assistants document how much help each resident needs with them.

More complex tasks such as shopping, cooking, managing money, using the phone, and taking transportation, which show how independently a person can live.

Localized skin and tissue damage from unrelieved pressure, often over the sacrum, heels, or hips; prevention means turning, repositioning, keeping skin clean and dry, and checking skin.

A planned timetable, often every two hours or as care-planned, for turning or shifting a resident to relieve pressure on one body area.

Moving a joint through its normal arc. Active ROM is done by the resident; passive ROM is done by the assistant, who stops at pain or resistance.

A permanent shortening of muscle or tendon that freezes a joint, prevented by regular range-of-motion exercise and proper positioning.

Walking, with or without a cane, walker, or gait belt. The assistant stays on the weaker side and near the gait belt to guard against falls.

A wide strap fastened around a resident's waist that gives the assistant a firm hold for guiding and supporting during transfers and walking.

Moving a resident between bed, chair, or toilet using correct body mechanics, locking wheels, raising the bed to a safe height, and never pulling on the arms.

Using the body safely to move loads: bend the knees, keep the back straight, hold the load close, and push rather than pull to protect the worker and resident.

A resident's likelihood of falling, raised by medications, poor vision, weakness, confusion, wet floors, or clutter; interventions include call light within reach and nonskid footwear.

Any device or method that limits a resident's freedom of movement; it requires a physician order, time limits, monitoring, and release, and is never used for convenience or discipline.

Difficulty swallowing that raises choking and aspiration risk; care includes upright positioning, prescribed diet texture and liquid thickness, small bites, and watching for coughing or pocketing.

Breathing food, liquid, or vomit into the airway; signs include coughing, choking, a wet voice, or trouble breathing and must be reported and treated as an emergency.

Drinks made thicker with a prescribed additive so they flow slowly and are easier to swallow safely; never thin them or add ice that melts and changes texture.

A fluid shortage causing thirst, dark urine, dry mouth, confusion, or weakness; older adults have less thirst sensation and need offered fluids and intake records.

Recording all fluids a resident drinks and all urine, vomit, or drainage produced, usually in milliliters, to show fluid balance.

Unwanted effects of a drug, such as dizziness, drowsiness, constipation, or confusion; the assistant observes and reports changes but does not judge or change doses.

The official record listing each resident's medications, doses, times, and routes; it guides administration and must never be altered except by authorized staff.

The tasks a nursing assistant is legally allowed to perform under supervision; it never includes giving injections, taking verbal orders, or assessing for diagnosis.

Responding to a confused resident's feelings and reality with acceptance and empathy instead of arguing, which reduces distress and builds trust.

A resident's right to make personal choices, including accepting or refusing care, food, visitors, and schedules, even when the assistant disagrees.

Federally protected guarantees such as dignity, privacy, choice, visitors, personal possessions, freedom from abuse, and access to a grievance process.

A resident's voluntary agreement to care or treatment after understanding the benefits, risks, and alternatives; obtained by the responsible licensed provider, not the assistant.

The legal duty of nursing assistants to report suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation to the charge nurse and required agency immediately, without investigating it themselves.

Abuse is intentional harm, such as hitting, yelling, or misusing money; neglect is failing to provide needed care. Both must be reported at once.

Infection-control steps used with every resident: hand hygiene, gloves for body fluids, gowns, masks, eye protection, and safe sharps handling.

Cleaning hands with soap and water or alcohol-based rub at key moments, such as before and after resident contact and after removing gloves, to stop infection spread.

Extra precautions for specific germs: contact (gown and gloves), droplet (mask), and airborne (fit-tested respirator and negative-pressure room).

When a resident cannot breathe, speak, or cough, call for help, start abdominal thrusts or back blows per training and protocol, and stay until breathing returns.