Unit 20: Vocabulary

Please study the 20 vocabulary terms below. Then press the Mark Complete button to continue.
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albatross
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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appy
an appendicitis, or an appendix
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He presented complaining of an appy.
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bounceback
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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circle the drain
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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code brown
a fecal emergency, incontinence
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Most nurses dread hearing the words, "code brown".
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departure lounge
the geriatrics ward
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Working in the departure lounge requires a lot of patience and empathy.
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discharged up
to pass away, die
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Two patients were discharged up last night so we have two free beds.
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frequent flyer
a patient who spends a lot of time at hospital, is frequently admitted
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Everyone at the hospital knows Mary, she is a real frequent flyer.
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gatekeeper
an administrative doctor whose job it 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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get hammered
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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goldbrick
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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LPN (low paid nurse)
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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noctor
a junior nurse who thinks they are a docto
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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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puppies
interns or residents
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All puppies should be present for rounds at 8am.
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shotgunning
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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slasher
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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turf
to get rid of a patient by referring them to another ward / team / docto
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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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velcro
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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wallet biopsy
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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zebra
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.
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