To pass this unit, please study the 20 vocabulary words below.
- albatross
- appy
- bounceback
- circle the drain
- code brown
- departure lounge
- discharged up
- frequent flyer
- gatekeeper
- get hammered
- goldbrick
- LPN (low paid nurse)
- noctor
- puppies
- shotgunning
- slasher
- turf
- velcro
- wallet biopsy
- zebra
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a chronically ill patient who will remain in hospital until they die
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"We try to provide comfort to the albatrosses, even though we cannot cure them."
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an appendicitis operation, or severe appendix pain
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"He presented complaining of an appy."
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a patient who is readmitted to hospital after being discharged
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"If a doctor gets too many bouncebacks, it raises questions over his original diagnosis."
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to be close to death
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"She was circling the drain when I left last night so I wasn't surprised to hear she had passed away."
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a fecal emergency, incontinence
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"Most nurses dread hearing the words, "code brown"."
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the geriatrics ward
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"Working in the departure lounge requires a lot of patience and empathy."
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passed away; dead
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"Two patients were discharged up last night so we have two free beds."
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a patient who spends a lot of time at hospital, or comes in often
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"Everyone at the hospital knows Mary, she is a real frequent flyer."
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an administrative doctor, whose job is to reduce costs by only admitting emergency cases or those with suitable insurance
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"As the gatekeeper, he decides who should be admitted and who should not."
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to have a large number of admissions while on duty
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"A&E departments usually get hammered on Friday and Saturday nights."
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a patient who demands more time than their condition deserves
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"He only had a slight temperature but from the way he was complaining you would have thought he was going to die - what a goldbrick!"
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a play on words with the term LPN Licensed Practical Nurse
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"I'll get one of the LPNs to give her a sponge bath, I certainly am not going to do it myself."
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a junior nurse who thinks they are a doctor
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"One of the most annoying things for doctors is dealing with noctors who think they know more than the doctor does."
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interns or residents
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"All puppies should be present for rounds at 8am."
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ordering a wide variety of tests in the hope one of them will show what is wrong with a patient
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"The doctors had no idea what was wrong with the patient so resorted to shotgunning."
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a surgeon
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"Slashers have a reputation of being less intelligent than other doctors, but this is rarely true."
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to get rid of a patient by referring them to another ward, team, or doctor
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"It is not uncommon for a problem patient to be turfed from one department to another until they are discharged."
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relatives or friends who stay with a patient at all times
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"Other patients in the ward felt uncomfortable because of her velcro who stayed with her around the clock."
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the process of confirming a patients insurance before admission to hospital
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"In corporate America, the wallet biopsy has become commonplace."
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an obscure diagnosis when a more commonplace diagnosis is more likely
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"Some doctors seem to overlook the obvious and arrive at zebras."