HSSC Staff Nurse flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Normal adult vital signs

Temperature 36.5–37.5 °C, pulse 60–100/min, respiration 12–20/min, blood pressure around 120/80 mmHg, and SpO2 95–100% are the accepted normal adult ranges.

Pulse deficit

The difference between the apical and radial pulse rates, counted simultaneously by two nurses for a full minute; it reflects ineffective ventricular contractions, classically in atrial fibrillation.

Pressure ulcer stage 3

Full-thickness skin loss extending into subcutaneous fat, with slough possibly present but no exposed fascia, muscle, tendon, cartilage, or bone; this distinguishes it from stage 4.

Airborne precautions

Used for tuberculosis, measles, and varicella; requires a negative-pressure room, an N95 respirator for staff, and a closed door with the patient masked during transport.

MONA-B for MI

Morphine, oxygen only if saturation is below 90%, nitroglycerin, aspirin chewed, and a beta-blocker; ST-elevation infarction additionally needs urgent reperfusion by primary PCI.

Digoxin toxicity signs

Early features are anorexia, nausea, and yellow-green visual halos; hypokalaemia worsens toxicity, and the apical pulse is checked before each dose, holding it below 60/min.

Diabetic ketoacidosis criteria

Glucose usually above 250 mg/dL with pH below 7.3, bicarbonate below 18 mEq/L, ketonaemia, and a raised anion gap; treatment starts with isotonic saline, then insulin.

The 4 Ts of PPH

Tone (uterine atony, the commonest cause), Trauma, Tissue (retained placenta), and Thrombin (coagulopathy); atony is managed first with uterine massage and oxytocin.

Naegele's rule

Estimated delivery date is calculated from the first day of the last menstrual period plus 7 days, minus 3 months, plus 1 year, assuming a regular 28-day cycle.

Magnesium sulphate toxicity

The earliest sign is loss of the deep tendon reflex, followed by respiratory depression and oliguria; monitor hourly reflexes, respiration, and urine output, with calcium gluconate as the antidote.

APGAR scoring

Scored at 1 and 5 minutes on appearance, pulse, grimace, activity, and respiration, each 0–2; 7–10 is normal and 0–3 requires immediate resuscitation.

WHO ORS Plan B

For some dehydration, give oral rehydration solution 75 mL/kg over 4 hours under supervision, then reassess; Plan C uses intravenous Ringer's lactate 100 mL/kg for severe dehydration.

Kangaroo mother care

Skin-to-skin contact for at least 8 hours daily for low-birth-weight infants, combined with exclusive breastfeeding and early discharge; it reduces hypothermia, infection, and mortality.

Neuroleptic malignant syndrome

A life-threatening reaction to antipsychotics with rigidity, hyperthermia above 38 °C, and autonomic instability with raised creatine kinase; stop the drug and give dantrolene or bromocriptine.

Lithium therapeutic range

Serum lithium should stay between 0.6 and 1.2 mEq/L; toxicity causes tremor, vomiting, ataxia, and seizures, and is precipitated by dehydration or low sodium intake.

Tardive dyskinesia

Involuntary choreoathetoid movements of the tongue, lips, and face appearing after months to years of antipsychotic use; it may be irreversible, so abnormal movements are reported early.

Cardiac output formula

Cardiac output equals heart rate multiplied by stroke volume, averaging about 5 litres per minute in a resting adult; it rises with exercise and falls in shock or heart failure.

Gram stain principle

Gram-positive bacteria retain crystal violet in their thick peptidoglycan wall and stain purple; Gram-negative bacteria lose it, take up safranin, and appear pink.

Autoclave parameters

Steam sterilisation at 121 °C and 15 psi for 15–20 minutes kills bacteria and spores; it is the standard method for dressings, instruments, and culture media.

Therapeutic index

Calculated as the toxic dose divided by the therapeutic dose; a narrow index, as with digoxin, lithium, warfarin, and phenytoin, requires serum level monitoring.

Anaphylaxis first-line drug

Adrenaline 0.5 mg of a 1:1000 solution given intramuscularly into the anterolateral thigh, repeated every 5 minutes as needed; antihistamines and steroids are only adjuncts.

Kwashiorkor features

Protein-energy malnutrition with oedema, moon face, flaky-paint dermatosis, and low serum albumin; marasmus instead shows severe wasting without oedema.

Bloom's taxonomy levels

The cognitive domain is ordered as remember, understand, apply, analyse, evaluate, and create; the psychomotor domain runs from imitation to naturalisation, and the affective domain covers attitudes.

Cohort versus case-control

Cohort studies follow exposed and unexposed groups and yield incidence and relative risk; case-control studies compare past exposure in diseased and non-diseased groups and yield odds ratios.

Haryana formation date

Haryana was carved out of Punjab on 1 November 1966, following the Shah Commission recommendation, with Chandigarh serving as the shared capital of both states.

Haryana state symbols

The state animal is the blackbuck, the state bird the black francolin, the state tree the peepal, and the state flower the lotus; Haryana has 22 districts.

Average speed formula

For equal distances travelled at speeds a and b, average speed equals 2ab divided by (a + b), not the arithmetic mean of the two speeds.

CI minus SI two years

For two years, the difference between compound and simple interest equals the principal multiplied by the square of the rate divided by 100.

Work together formula

If A completes a job in x days and B in y days, working together they finish it in xy divided by (x + y) days.

Subject-verb with either-or

With 'either…or' and 'neither…nor', the verb agrees with the subject nearer to it; 'one of the boys is' and 'each of the students has' take singular verbs.

Memory unit conversions

One byte equals 8 bits, one kilobyte equals 1024 bytes, one megabyte equals 1024 kilobytes, and one gigabyte equals 1024 megabytes; RAM is volatile, ROM is not.

Email protocol roles

SMTP sends outgoing mail, while POP3 and IMAP retrieve incoming mail; IMAP keeps messages synchronised on the server, whereas POP3 typically downloads and removes them.