Medical Terminology,

Documentation, Case
Cards & Handovers

Anthea Cayetano - 2015

 Lecture Objectives
• Introduction to medical terminology
• Paramedic documentation / case cards
• ISBAR
 Medicine is a different Language

Greek
Arabic

Latin
French

Current medical vocabulary includes terms built from

Greek, Latin, French & Arabic word parts, eponyms,
acronyms, and terms from modern language.
 Word Components
Word Root: Fundamental meaning of a medical term. A term
usually derived from a source language- Greek or Latin and it
usually describes a body part.
Prefix: Attached to beginning of a medical term to modify its
meaning, by giving additional information about the location
of an organ, the number of parts or time involved.
Suffix: Attached to end of a medical term root word to add
meaning, such as a condition, disease process or procedure.
Combining Vowel: Used to ease pronunciation - usually an “o”
(e, i, or u)
 Roots
• Blood= haem or hem
• Blood Vessel= angi(o) (Greek Root) or vascul (Latin
Root)
• Abdomen= lapar(o) (Greek Root)
• Stomach= gastric
• Eye= opthalm (Greek Root) or Ocul (Latin Root)
• Mouth (Latin Root)= Oro
• Upper Throat (Greek Root)= Pharyng
• Lower Throat (Greek Root)= Laryng
• Heart (Greek Root)= Cardi
 Prefix
• An / A- = without / lack of
• Ad- = near / toward
• Dys- = bad/difficult
• Endo- = inside
• Epi- = upon
• Hyper- = Excessive/ above/ high
• Hypo- = Under/ below/ low
• Intra- = within/ inside
• Tachy- = fast
• Brady- = slow
 Suffixes
• -aemia = condition of blood
• -ectomy = removal
• -itis = inflammation
• -ology = study of
• -phasia = speech
• -phagia = eating / swallowing
 Bringing it together
Word Root + Combining Vowels

Examples of word parts and combining vowel in use

• arthr/o
• hepat/o
• ven/o
• oste/o
Volunteer to tell me; which is the prefix,
root word, combining vowel and suffix?
Cardiomyopathy
P RW CV S
Cardio- -my- -o- -pathy

Intravenous
P RW S
Intra- -ven- -ous
Osteoarthritis
P CV RW S
Oste- -o- -arthr- -itis
 Eponyms
• Adams apple
• Baron von Munchausen
• Achilles
• Gabriel Fallopius
• Paul Langerhans
• Ruggero Oddi
• Bartolomeo Eustachi
• John Langdon Down
 Basic Rules
• All medical terms have at least one word root
• Not all medical terms have a prefix, suffix, or
combining vowel
• Combining vowels are used to connect word
roots or word root and suffix
• When a suffix begins with a vowel, the
combining vowel is not used
Example: arthritis (“o”)
 Basic Rules
• When connecting two word roots, a
combining vowel is usually used even if vowels
are present at the junction
Example: oste/o/arthr/itis
• Usually medical terms are defined by starting
at the end of the term and going back to the
beginning
Example: oste/o/arthr/itis ─ inflammation
of the joints and bone
 What do these mean then?

Tonsillitis Infection and swelling of the tonsils

Appendectomy Removal of the appendix

Study of the structure, functions and

Cardiology disorders of the heart

Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
a lung disease caused by the inhalation of very fine silica dust,
causing inflammation in the lungs
Danger!!!!
 Beware, there are traps
• Spelling
Perineal
(relating to the perineum-the area between the
anus and the scrotum or vulva)
Vs
Peroneal
(relating to or situated in the outer side of the calf
of the leg)
• Pronunciation
Who can say- phenergan?
Let’s Have a Closer Look at Some Common Medical Language Hazards:
• cervical or cervical
(cervical – narrow portion of the uterus, cervical – part of the c-spine)

• ileum or ilium
(ileum – part of the intestinal tract, ilium – the pelvic bone)

• malleus or malleolus
(malleus – middle ear bone, malleolus – bony protuberance of the ankle)
• dysphasia or dysphagia
(dysphasia – disorder of speech, dysphagia – difficulty swallowing)
• elephantiasis or elephantitis
(elephantiasis – parasite in lymphatic system causes thickening of skin and
tissues, elephantitis – ?swollen elephant)
Abbreviations
 SHORT HAND
• It is possible to write a whole sentence in
abbreviated form and still make sense!

Volunteer to try:
A 76 year old male complaining of central chest
pain radiating down his left arm
76 y.o. ♂ C/O CP radiating L) arm
 Anatomical Terms of Body Position
and Direction
•Anterior/Ventral- Toward the front of the body.
•Posterior/Dorsal- Toward the back of the body.
•Supine- Body is lying face up.
•Prone- Body is lying face down.
•Lateral- Body is lying on the side, either left or right.
•Semi-Recumbent- Reclined position. Lying down, propped up at waist.

•Trendelenburg- Lying down, face up, legs elevated.

•Sitting- You are all doing it now!
 Anatomical Terms of Location

•Superior- Above
•Inferior- Below
•Medial- Towards the middle
•Lateral- Towards the side
•Proximal- Towards the attachment of a limb
•Distal- Towards the fingers/toes or away
from the attachment of a limb
ANATOMICAL
TERMS:
Locations
 Anatomical Terms of Motion
•Flexion Bending movement that decreases the angle between two parts.

•Extension Straightening movement that increases the angle between body parts.

•Abduction A motion that pulls a structure away from the midline of the body.

•Adduction A motion that pulls a structure toward the midline of the body.

•Internal Rotation Shoulder or hip would point the toes or the flexed forearm inwards.
•External Rotation Turns the toes or flexed forearm outwards (away from the midline).

•Pronation A rotation of the forearm that moves the palm to facing down.

•Supination Rotation of the forearm so that the palm faces up.

•Eversion Movement of the sole of the foot away from the median plane.
•Inversion Movement of the sole towards the median plane.
•Dorsiflexion Extension of the entire foot superiorly. Eg. Taking foot off of accelerator.

•Plantarflexion Flexion of the entire foot inferiorly, Eg. Pressing down on the accelerator.

volunteer to demonstrate please

ANATOMICAL
TERMS:
Motion
A Extension
A1 Flexion
B Flexion
B1 Extension

1 Internal/Lateral Rotation
2 External/Medial Rotation
3 Supination
4 Pronation
5 Eversion
6 Inversion
7 Adduction
8 Abduction
Abdominal Regions
LLQ
LUQ

RLQ
RUQ
Regions of the Spine
Documentation
 Why Document?
Excellence in medical documentation reflects
and creates excellence in medical care. At its
best, the medical record forms a clear and
complete plan that legibly communicates
pertinent information, credits competent care
and forms a tight defence against allegations of
malpractice by aligning patient and provider
expectations
Not Documented
= Didn’t Happen
Your paperwork will be explored when:
• Patient complaint
• Health Staff complaint
• Criminal charges being investigated/Coroner
• Patient complaint about secondary provider
• Routine Audit (local)
• Considerations for promotion
• Use for research audits
• Mandatory reporting of unsafe practice
 Record Keeping
• Concise but maintain attention to detail
• Accuracy and honesty
• Legible – Blue or Black Ink
• Confidentiality
• Make notes for cases that just don’t add up!!!
 Drawings and Photographs
• Illustrates significance of mechanism of injury
• Useful when wounds or injured sites are
obscured by dressings or splints or for
distances/heights of falls, impact/intrusion into
cabin of vehicles in MVAs
 Positive & Negative Findings
• Include the symptoms that patients state they
don’t have (Shortness of breath, Nausea,
Radiating Pain, Blurred Vision, Photophobia,
Neck Stiffness)
• Isolate specific pain sites; tenderness to the
distal fibula of their left lower leg
 Who is giving the History
• Clearly identify the information provider
• The patients mother states/ed; she “saw him
fall from the roof of the shed”
• A member from the public witnessed the
patient trip on the pavement striking their
head
 What is said
• Patient makes allegations only unless you
were witness to event
• Use patient quotes where applicable
• When I suggested to take the patient to
hospital Mr Jones said;

“Get stuffed I hate hospitals, now get out of my

house before I kick your teeth in.”
 Patient Education & Advice
• Use language that the patient will understand and clearly list
your advice
• Create a written plan and get the patient to repeat it back to
you
• Show the patient and their family where on the case card you
have documented the plan so they can refer to their copy later
– The patient repeated to me they “would follow this up with
their own GP tomorrow morning or call us back if their
symptoms deteriorated”
• If possible make sure your partner hears your advice
 Use of Language
• Concise
• Descriptive
• Avoid Slang / Colloquialisms
• Abbreviations – Acceptable v Unacceptable
What you observe vs. what you think!
• Resist the urge to fill in the blanks yourself
• “patient was discovered with an altered level
of consciousness in a bar. Patient clearly
drinking for a long period of time as well as
large quantities of ETOH+++”
 Pitfalls to avoid
• Rushing documentation
• Incomplete documentation
• Only documenting the assessment of one
body system
• Obscure / Inappropriate Abbreviations
• Non methodical approach
 BEWARE
• When the information is from a source other
than the patient
• A patient with an altered conscious state
• Alcohol or Drug involvement
• Paediatric patients
• Elderly Patients
• Language or communication barriers
• Any refusal of treatment
• Any combination of above
Case Cards
 What should my
documentation include?
• Patient’s Details • Medications
• Presenting Complaint • Allergies
• History of Presenting • On Arrival
Complaint • On Examination
• Past Medical History • Treatments
• Social History • Provisional Diagnosis
• Family History
Patient Details
Report Form Code List
 Presenting Complaint
• A brief statement only. No more than one line
depicting the main facts.

PC – 64 year old male with chest pain

64 y/o C/O CP
or
on case card- simply fill in box with ‘Chest Pain’
Allergies/ Communicable Diseases
• Any known allergic responses
• What was it to?
• What was the nature of allergic response?
eg. Localised skin rash, Angiodoema,
require hospital treatment?
• Look for alert bracelets & pendants.

• Comm. Diseases- Common Cold, Flu- Bird, Swine etc,

Hepatitis A-D, Chicken Pox, Mumps, Malaria, Measles,
TB, STDS, Whooping Cough.
 Past Medical History
• List what the patient has been treated for in
the past.
• Previous hospitalisations? ICU admissions?
• Previous surgery?

• May start with open questions and get more

specific or may need prompts to start- eg.
breathing, heart, diabetes?
 Social History
• List the relevant things to consider in relation
to the patients living environment.

• Receiving or Providing Support?

• Environmental considerations – housing
putting patient at risk?
• Smoking, alcohol or illicit drug use and
frequency.
 Family History
• Any significant family medical history.
eg. Heart Disease, Diabetes, Specific Illnesses-
cancer etc
 Medications
• List the medications that the patient takes
regularly. Including things that they have
started taking for this particular illness.
• What do they believe their medications are
for?
 History of Presenting Complaint
• Expand on PC to include any significant precursors to
the event.
• What have they taken or done to help cause/relieve
current problem? How much and when?

HPC or Hx– This 64y/o pt has a 30min hx of CP

radiating down L arm. Pain began shortly after
patient commenced regular morning walk. Pt
immediately took 3x spray of own GTN at 5 min
intervals and rested. Nil relief. Ambulance called.
 On Arrival
• One sentence that sums up what you see.

• What did you see when you arrived?

• Where was the patient when you first saw
them?
• How were they positioned?
• Who else was there?
 On Examination
• A methodical account of the patients signs and
symptoms.

• How did patient initially present?

• Include relevant body systems.
• Include positive and negative findings.
• Document significant observations / findings.
 Example of Layout in This section
CNS -GCS (4,5,6), LOC, Alert, Orientated, PEARL, Pt c/o, Dizziness, Headache,
Nausea, Neuro. Deficit (grip strength, plantar flexion, gait etc)
CVS -HR (reg, weak, bounding), BP, Monitor – Rhythm and morphology, Pt c/o,
Chest pain – DOLOR
RESP- RR (deep/shallow), Sp02, Pt c/o, S.O.B, Dyspnoea, On auscultation – AE L=R, Exp/Insp
Wheeze, Creps,
Clear all fields.
INTEG- Colour (Flushed, Pink, Pale)
Temp (Cool, Warm, Hot)
Moisture (Dry, Moist, Diaphoretic)
ENDO- BGL – xx.x mmol, Rx and progression details
URINARY- Reg/Irreg, Frequency, Amount, Colour, Pain, Odour
GASTRO- Emesis(amount, frequency, contents),
Bowel motion(reg/irreg, frequency, colour, pain), Bowel
sounds, Abdo assessment.
M/SKEL- Pt c/o, Pain, R.O.M., Deformity
TRAUMA- Pt c/o, 2° Survey (subheadings - Head/Neck, Chest/Back,
Abdomen, Pelvis, Limbs), R.O.M., Deformity, Blood loss, Rx
 Useful Acronyms
For Pain For Pain
D Description A Allergies P Provokes
O Onset M Medications Q Quality
L Location P Past Medical History R Radiation
O Other Symptoms L Last Eaten S Severity
R Relief E Events Leading To T Time

Alert Voice Pain Unresponsive

 Treatment
• Filled out in the treatment box as they occurred
on a timeline.

• Sequential record of events that occurred

throughout your interactions with the patient

• Consider timelines of treatment

 Provisional Diagnosis

• Your best guess(s) given the data you have

collected.
Examples of Case Cards
Handover
Who Do We Handover to??
 Handovers
“Clinical handover refers to the
transfer of information from one health care
provider to another when:
– a patient has a change of location of care, and/or
– when the care of a patient shifts from one
provider to another”.

(Australian Council for Safety and Quality in Health Care – May 2005)
 Handovers
• You are on show as a professional
• Should be succinct when delivering the report
of your findings
• Must paint a complete picture, but should not
be long winded
• Should echo your written report
 Handover Includes…..
• Age
• Sex
• Chief complaint
• History
• Signs
• Treatment
• Any other pertinent information
Welcome to:

ISBAR
 ‘Know the Plan, Share the Plan,
Review the Risks’

I dentify
S ituation
B ackground
A ssessment
R ecommendation
Identify
Yourself and role. Patient with three identifiers.

Situation
What is going on with the patient?

Background
What is the clinical background/context?

Assessment
What do I think the problem is?

Recommendation
What do I recommend?
Check back for shared understanding.
 Example of ISBAR Handover
I Hi, my name is John Smith. I am a paramedic. This is 74 year old, Mrs
Mary Murray. Her date of birth is: 20/01/38.

S Mary had a fall at home this morning injuring her left leg.

B She was feeling dizzy, then woke up on the floor with a painful leg. She
denied any chest pain. It’s unclear how long she was unconscious as
there were no witnesses. Mary lives alone at home and is normally
independent.
She has a history of atrial fibrillation, type 2 diabetes and hypertension.
She has no allergies. Her current medications are warfarin, metformin,
perindopril and atorvostatin. I brought these meds in from her kitchen
bench.

A When we arrived her vital signs were all stable with a GCS of 15 and BSL
4.0. Her left leg was shortened and externally rotated and very painful
to move. We gave her methoxyflurane for pain relief, and supported the
left hip.

R The methoxyflurane was given now 20 minutes ago so I suggest that you
monitor her for pain and her BSL will need to be watched.
Questions?
Take Home Message:
•Only document what you KNOW!

•Cover all body systems with reasonable

depth and fill in ALL the boxes.

•Always use proper medical language

and accepted abbreviations.