Medical Abbreviations & Normal Ranges: Survival Guide

by Helen Jones

Overview

Part of the skill of nursing and healthcare involves being able to decipher and understand the meanings of results and abbreviations. Fully updated, this second edition is a handy survival guide which will supply you with up-to-date information and help you understand this language, so that you can provide appropriate holistic care to your patients.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780429786501
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	04/09/2019
Series:	Nursing and Health Survival Guides
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	68
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Helen Jones is Senior Lecturer, Pre-Registration Nursing at the University of Worcester, UK.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Abbreviations and acronyms

Conventional units of measurement

Normal Ranges:

Cardiovascular: Pulse Sites

Blood pressure stages

Biochemistry

Blood composition: Coagulation screen

Cardiac Enzymes

Hormone levels

Respiratory: Respiration rates

Tidal Volumes

Arterial Blood Gases

Acid Base Balance

Peak Flow readings

Neurological: Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS)

Renal: Urinalysis

Fluid Balance

Nutritional assessment: MUST

Patient at Risk Scores: NEWS

PEWS

Skin assessment: WATERLOW

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Josilyn E Goebel, MSN, AGPCNP-BC(Michigan State University College of Nursing)
Description: This survival guide includes abbreviations and normal ranges for patient assessments frequently encountered in the nursing profession. The first edition was published in 2011.
Purpose: The purpose is to be an accessible reference tool for prospective or current nurses to quickly navigate jargon in order to provide quality care to patients. It is extensive, compact, and easy to use.
Audience: This guide includes language common in the nursing profession. There is overlap with other healthcare professions, but the book was created for nurses and individuals studying to become nurses. It is general enough to cover the basics in most nursing specialties.
Features: The first half of the guide contains an extensive list of abbreviations and acronyms in alphabetical order. The second half of the guide is designated for "normal ranges." Ranges include lab values, vital signs, and common assessments that are organized by system. The respiratory system is particularly thorough, including blood gases, acid-base balance, and peak flow readings. Values for both children and adults are included. There are graphs and charts throughout the guide, and it is well organized.
Assessment: The pages are thin, but strong and laminated for easy cleaning. The spiral binding is sturdy, and the size is perfect to fit in a scrub or lab coat pocket. The table of contents are concise and facilitate quick reference to information. This guide strikes a good balance between covering the fundamentals without including too much that may not be relevant in most roles. This guide would likely be most helpful for a student nurse, a new nurse, or perhaps a nurse changing roles.

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