N&MC Ghana Exam key terms

A step-by-step method nurses use to plan and deliver care: assess the patient, state the nursing diagnosis, set goals, carry out the interventions, then evaluate whether the goals were met.

Using the best available research evidence, together with your clinical expertise and the patient's own preferences, to decide how to care for that person rather than relying on habit or tradition.

Ongoing learning and skill updating that a registered practitioner must do throughout their career, recorded as points or hours, in order to keep the licence to practise and stay current.

Recording care, observations and decisions accurately, objectively and legibly at the time they happen, so that the record is a reliable legal account and other staff can continue safe care.

The limits of what a nurse or midwife is legally and professionally allowed to do, set by qualification, registration, employer policy and the regulator; working outside it is unsafe and can be misconduct.

A patient's voluntary agreement to treatment after being told, in language they understand, the purpose, benefits, risks and alternatives, and what may happen if they refuse.

The duty to keep a patient's personal and health information private, sharing it only with those who need it to provide care, or where the law or a serious public risk requires disclosure.

Failure to give the standard of care that a reasonable practitioner would give in the same situation, resulting in harm to the patient; when it happens within professional practice it may be called malpractice.

Acting in the patient's best interests by speaking up for them, protecting their rights and choices, and helping them obtain the information or care they need.

The regulator's written standards of ethics and behaviour that registered nurses and midwives must follow; breaching them can lead to disciplinary action and loss of the licence to practise.

Temperature, pulse, respiration and blood pressure, often with oxygen saturation and pain score, measured to detect changes in a patient's condition and to monitor the response to treatment.

Routine infection-control measures used for every patient: hand hygiene, protective clothing and gloves as needed, safe handling of sharps, and safe disposal of waste, whatever the patient's known infection status.

Recording all fluid taken in and put out over 24 hours to check that intake and losses are in balance; a positive or negative balance warns of overload or dehydration.

Localised damage to skin and the tissue beneath it caused by prolonged pressure, shear or friction, usually over bony prominences; prevented by repositioning, skin care and pressure-relieving support.

A life-threatening state in which severe blood or fluid loss reduces circulating volume so that tissues receive too little oxygen; signs include a rapid weak pulse, low blood pressure, pallor, thirst and restlessness.

Sorting patients by urgency so that those with life-threatening problems are treated first, based on a rapid check of airway, breathing, circulation and level of consciousness.

A disorder of pregnancy, usually after 20 weeks, marked by high blood pressure together with protein in the urine or other organ damage; it can progress to fits (eclampsia) and needs urgent referral.

Bleeding of 500 ml or more after a vaginal birth, or 1000 ml or more after a caesarean, or any bleeding that causes signs of shock; a leading cause of maternal death.

A set of steps used routinely to prevent postpartum haemorrhage: giving a uterotonic drug as the baby is born, controlled cord traction to deliver the placenta, and uterine massage afterwards.

A one-page chart on which cervical dilatation, fetal heart rate, contractions, maternal pulse, blood pressure and urine output are plotted during labour, so that slow progress or fetal distress is spotted early.

The scheduled check-ups a woman has during pregnancy to monitor her health and the baby's growth, receive preventive care such as iron and tetanus vaccination, and prepare for birth.

A quick assessment made at 1 and 5 minutes after birth of heart rate, breathing, muscle tone, reflex response and colour, each scored 0 to 2, to judge how well the newborn is adapting.

Skin-to-skin care in which a stable low-birth-weight baby is carried upright between the mother's breasts, breastfed exclusively and followed up closely; it keeps the baby warm and reduces infection and death.

Giving an infant only breast milk, with no water, other liquids or food, from birth until six months, apart from drops of medicine or vitamins; it protects against infection and supports growth.

Giving a child with diarrhoea a measured oral rehydration salts solution in small, frequent sips to replace lost water and salts, given together with zinc; it prevents and treats dehydration.

Giving vaccines according to the national schedule to protect a person from specific diseases, using the right dose, route and site, correct storage, and recording each dose in the health record.

Regularly measuring a child's weight, length or height and plotting it on a chart to see whether growth is normal, faltering or excessive, and to prompt counselling or referral.

The system of keeping vaccines at the correct temperature from manufacture all the way to the point of use, using refrigerators, cold boxes and temperature monitoring, so that they stay potent.

Health care that is accessible, community-based and affordable, offering promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative services close to where people live; it is the foundation of the national health system.

The indirect protection of people who are not immune that occurs when a high enough proportion of a community is immune, so that an infection cannot spread easily from person to person.

A process of collecting and analysing information on a defined community's health status, resources and problems, so that health actions can be planned and prioritised together with the people.

A structured description of a person's appearance, behaviour, mood, speech, thought, perception, cognition and insight at the time of interview, used to assess and monitor their mental state.

Purposeful, respectful talking and listening that helps a patient express feelings and understand their care, using open questions, reflection, silence and empathy rather than advice or judgement.

Negative beliefs and discrimination attached to a condition such as mental illness or HIV, which can lead people to hide their illness, delay seeking care and feel rejected by others.

The agreed pathway for moving a patient from one level of care to another, with written communication and feedback, so that people receive the right level of care without unnecessary delay.

Planned communication that helps individuals or groups gain the knowledge and skills to protect and improve their own health, using methods suited to their literacy level and culture.