Maharashtra SSC Health Care Pre-Voc/NSQF flashcards

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

ASHA worker

An Accredited Social Health Activist, a trained female community health worker in rural India, roughly one per 1,000 population, who links the community to health services and receives performance-linked incentives.

Primary health centre

The first referral unit in rural India, staffed by a medical officer and supporting staff, providing basic curative, preventive and maternal-child health services to a group of villages.

NSQF

The National Skills Qualifications Framework, which organises qualifications into levels describing skill, knowledge and autonomy; health care roles such as General Duty Assistant are mapped to specific levels.

General Duty Assistant

A trained support worker who assists nurses with bed making, patient mobility, feeding, hygiene and vital-sign recording, and reports changes to the nursing staff rather than diagnosing or prescribing.

Active listening

A communication technique in which the listener gives full attention, avoids interrupting, and paraphrases or clarifies what the speaker said to confirm understanding.

Therapeutic communication

Purposeful communication that supports the patient, using open-ended questions, reflection, restating and silence, while avoiding false reassurance, unsolicited advice and changing the subject.

Proxemics

The study of how people use space and distance in communication; in health care, appropriate distance respects privacy and comfort during examination and conversation.

Teach-back method

A technique where the patient repeats instructions in their own words, allowing the health worker to confirm understanding and correct misunderstandings before the patient leaves.

Normal adult vital signs

Temperature 36.1–37.2 °C, pulse 60–100 beats per minute, respiration 12–20 breaths per minute, blood pressure about 120/80 mmHg, and oxygen saturation 95–100 percent.

WHO definition of health

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

Haemoglobin

The oxygen-carrying pigment in red blood cells; normal adult levels are about 13–17 g/dL in males and 12–15 g/dL in females.

Small intestine

The longest part of the digestive tract, where most digestion and absorption of nutrients occurs; it connects the stomach to the large intestine.

Hand hygiene duration

Wash with soap and water for at least 40–60 seconds, or rub with alcohol-based hand rub for 20–30 seconds; it is the single most effective infection-control measure.

PPE donning order

Put on hand hygiene, gown, mask or respirator, goggles, then gloves; remove in reverse order and perform hand hygiene after removing gloves.

Nail hygiene for staff

Clinical staff keep nails short, clean and unpolished; long or artificial nails harbour organisms and are a recognised source of infection transmission.

Safe food storage temperatures

Keep food below 5 °C or above 60 °C, separate raw and cooked items, and wash hands before handling food to prevent food-borne illness.

Chain of infection

A six-link sequence: infectious agent, reservoir, portal of exit, mode of transmission, portal of entry and susceptible host; breaking any link prevents transmission.

Standard precautions

Infection-control measures applied to all patients regardless of diagnosis, including hand hygiene, gloves, gown, mask, eye protection and safe sharps handling.

Biomedical waste colours

Yellow for human anatomical and soiled waste, red for contaminated recyclable plastic, white translucent for sharps, and blue for glass and metallic implants.

Needlestick injury first aid

Wash the site with soap and water without squeezing or scrubbing, report immediately, and follow the facility's post-exposure prophylaxis protocol.

Pressure ulcer prevention

Reposition the patient at least every two hours, keep skin clean and dry, use pressure-relieving devices, and inspect bony prominences regularly.

Fowler's position

A bed position with the head of the bed raised 45–60 degrees, used for breathing difficulty, feeding and draining; semi-Fowler's is about 30 degrees.

Radial pulse measurement

Place two fingers, not the thumb, on the radial artery at the wrist, count for one full minute, and record rate, rhythm and volume.

Intake-output chart

A 24-hour record of all fluids taken and voided in millilitres; urine output below 30 mL per hour must be reported to the nurse.

Adult CPR ratio

Give compressions at 100–120 per minute, 5–6 cm deep, with 30 compressions to 2 rescue breaths on a firm flat surface, using an AED as soon as available.

Choking adult first aid

Encourage coughing; if ineffective, give up to 5 back blows between the shoulder blades, then up to 5 abdominal thrusts, repeating until the object clears.

Burn first aid

Cool the burn with running water for at least 20 minutes, remove jewellery before swelling, cover loosely, and never apply ice, toothpaste or oil.

Snakebite first aid

Do not cut or suck the wound or induce vomiting; keep the person still, immobilise the bitten limb below heart level, and transport to hospital urgently.

Autoclave sterilisation

Steam sterilisation under pressure at 121 °C for 15–20 minutes; a hot-air oven uses dry heat at 160 °C for 2 hours.

Pulse oximeter

A device clipped on a finger that reads oxygen saturation; nail polish, cold hands and poor perfusion cause falsely low readings.

Record correction rule

Correct a written record with a single line through the error, initial and date it; never erase, overwrite or use correction fluid, because records are legal documents.

Informed consent

Agreement given by a competent patient who has been told the risks and benefits of a procedure and is free from coercion; it is documented before the procedure.