NSG 211
EXAM 1 STUDY GUIDE
“A GOOD RN IS ALWAYS LOOKING FOR TROUBLE”
~DR. BURNS
1. DEFINITIONS:
Pathophysiology: study of functional or physiological change that results in a disruption of normal biological
function. This disruption may be hidden or obvious at the cellular level and can be present for years before
knowing about it.
Disease: a disruption, interruption, cessation, or disorder of bodily functions, systems, and organs; that prevent
the body from maintaining a homeostatic status.
Pathology: the directly observable laboratory study of cell and tissue changes associated with disease.
: the worsening of symptoms or disease
Idiopathic: arising spontaneously or from an obscure or unknown cause, “disease of itself,” that is, one of
uncertain origin, apparently arising spontaneously. (e.g. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF)- a disease of aging
that has long had a mysterious etiology and pathogenesis)
Iatrogenic: a state of ill health or adverse effect caused by medical treatment; it usually results from a mistake
made in diagnosis or treatment, and can also be the fault of any member of the healthcare team; induced in a
patient by the treatment.
Acute: disease/illness or symptom appears suddenly and lasts for a short amount of time (e.g heart attack,
bronchitis, influenza, heartburn, headache etc.)
Chronic: defined broadly as conditions that last 1 year or more (insidious) and require ongoing medical
attention or limit activities of daily living or both. Chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes
are the leading causes of death and disability in the United States.
Nosocomial: originating in a hospital, also referred to as healthcare-associated infections (HAI), are infection(s)
acquired during the process of receiving health care that was not present during the time of admission.
Communicable: also known as infectious diseases or transmissible diseases, are illnesses that result from the
infection, presence and growth of pathogenic (capable of causing disease) biologic agents in an individual
human or other animal host. How these diseases spread depends on the specific disease or infectious agent.
Some ways in which communicable diseases spread are by contact with blood and bodily fluids; breathing in an
airborne virus; or by being bitten by an insect. (e.g. tuberculosis, measles, hepatitis A/B/C, influenza virus, etc.)
Notifiable (or Reportable): diseases that must be brought to the attention of local/State/Federal healthcare
agencies immediately, as soon as identified. (e.g. Cholera, Measles, Hepatitis A, Salmonellosis, gonorrhea,
HIV, etc.)
Predisposing Factors: the conditions and activities that can lead to the development of disease within a living
organism. These may include genetics, life events, or temperament. Predisposing factors include predisposing
characteristics and predisposing conditions. Predisposing characteristics are those factors that are based on the
social and demographic factors of a public that have a major effect on their health, illnesses, and how they will
accept treatment. The predisposing conditions are basically the same as the predisposing factors as they are
those conditions that give way to the development of disease. (e.g. lifestyle habits, immune deficiency, stress,
gene abnormalities, fatigue, age, environment, etc.)
Precipitating Factors: refer to a specific event or trigger to the onset of the current problem. Perpetuating
factors are those that maintain the problem once it has become established. (e.g blocked artery that leads to a
heart attack)
Manifestations: a perceptible, outward, or visible expression of the disease process or abnormal condition.
Signs: a physical response linked to a medical condition or illness that is detected by a physician, nurse, or
, medical device during the examination of a patient. Signs are objective and measurable data, and this
measurement can be central to diagnosing a medical problem.
Symptoms: a manifestation of the disease or illness, that is apparent to the patient; subjective input from the
patient.
Syndrome: a set of medical signs and symptoms which are correlated with each other and often associated with
a particular disease or disorder. The word derives from the Greek σύνδρομον, meaning "concurrence". When a
syndrome is paired with a definite cause this becomes a disease. (e.g Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Polycystic
Ovary Syndrome, etc.)
Diagnosis: the identification of a certain disease based on the patient’s medical history, signs/symptoms, and
diagnostic tests
Prognosis: the likelihood of recovery from an illness or disease
Pathogenesis: the origination and development of a disease. Insights into disease etiology and progression, the
two major aspects of pathogenesis, are paramount in the prevention, management and treatment of various
diseases
Negative Feedback Loop: also known as an inhibitory loop, is a type of self-regulating system. In a negative
feedback loop, increased output from the system inhibits future production by the system; meaning that the
output of the system acts to oppose changes from the input of the system with the desired result being a
restoration of homeostasis (restoring balance). This is the most common type of feedback system in the human
body.
Positive Feedback Loop: which a change in a given direction causes additional change in the same direction;
thus, the output is unable to accommodate an input change, which results in a net change of the system
(imbalance and loss of homeostasis). (e.g temperature regulation, onset of contraction during
childbirth/lactation during breast-feeding[examples of the body still in homeostasis during a positive feedback
loop], breathing air that has very high carbon dioxide content. The amount of oxygen in blood decreases while
the concentration of carbon-dioxide in blood increases. This is sensed by carbon dioxide receptors, which cause
the breathing rate to increase. So the person breathes faster, taking in mor\e carbon dioxide, which stimulates
the receptors even more, so they breathe faster and faster which ultimately results in death.)
2. DEFINE EPIDEMIOLOGY, MORBIDITY, MORTALITY, PREVALENCE, INCIDENCE AND HOMEOSTASIS:
Etiology: cause or set of causes of a disease or illness
Epidemiology: the study (scientific, systematic, and data-driven) of the distribution (frequency, pattern) and
determinants (causes, risk factors) of health-related states and events (not just diseases) in specified populations
(neighborhood, school, city, state, country, global).
Mortality: the number of deaths in a population during a given time or place; a mortality rate is the number of
deaths due to a disease divided by the total population.
Morbidity: any decrease or departure, whether subjective or objective, from a state of physiological or
psychological well-being or quality of life due to illness or disease.
Prevalence: a measure of the total number of people in a specific group who have (or had) a certain disease,
condition, or risk factor at a specific point in time or during a given period of time. A “snap-shot” of the disease
data.
Incidence: a measure of disease that allows us to determine a person's probability of being diagnosed with a
disease during a given period of time. Therefore, incidence is the number of newly diagnosed cases of a disease.
Homeostasis: from the Greek words for "same" and "steady," refers to any process that living things use to
actively maintain fairly stable conditions necessary for survival.
Primary Prevention of Disease: main focus is to avoid the development of the disease and to focus on
interventions to maintain a healthy life. Primary prevention also involves two further subdivisions that include
health promotion and health protection. Health promotion includes educating a patient on their health or on
nutrition; and includes any type of education that would promote a healthy lifestyle. Health protection is
anything that would protect the patient from developing a disease or illness; health protection can include
administering immunizations, requiring mask wearing, etc.
Secondary Prevention of Disease: refers to activities like screening and early diagnosis that aid in treatment of
EXAM 1 STUDY GUIDE
“A GOOD RN IS ALWAYS LOOKING FOR TROUBLE”
~DR. BURNS
1. DEFINITIONS:
Pathophysiology: study of functional or physiological change that results in a disruption of normal biological
function. This disruption may be hidden or obvious at the cellular level and can be present for years before
knowing about it.
Disease: a disruption, interruption, cessation, or disorder of bodily functions, systems, and organs; that prevent
the body from maintaining a homeostatic status.
Pathology: the directly observable laboratory study of cell and tissue changes associated with disease.
: the worsening of symptoms or disease
Idiopathic: arising spontaneously or from an obscure or unknown cause, “disease of itself,” that is, one of
uncertain origin, apparently arising spontaneously. (e.g. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF)- a disease of aging
that has long had a mysterious etiology and pathogenesis)
Iatrogenic: a state of ill health or adverse effect caused by medical treatment; it usually results from a mistake
made in diagnosis or treatment, and can also be the fault of any member of the healthcare team; induced in a
patient by the treatment.
Acute: disease/illness or symptom appears suddenly and lasts for a short amount of time (e.g heart attack,
bronchitis, influenza, heartburn, headache etc.)
Chronic: defined broadly as conditions that last 1 year or more (insidious) and require ongoing medical
attention or limit activities of daily living or both. Chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes
are the leading causes of death and disability in the United States.
Nosocomial: originating in a hospital, also referred to as healthcare-associated infections (HAI), are infection(s)
acquired during the process of receiving health care that was not present during the time of admission.
Communicable: also known as infectious diseases or transmissible diseases, are illnesses that result from the
infection, presence and growth of pathogenic (capable of causing disease) biologic agents in an individual
human or other animal host. How these diseases spread depends on the specific disease or infectious agent.
Some ways in which communicable diseases spread are by contact with blood and bodily fluids; breathing in an
airborne virus; or by being bitten by an insect. (e.g. tuberculosis, measles, hepatitis A/B/C, influenza virus, etc.)
Notifiable (or Reportable): diseases that must be brought to the attention of local/State/Federal healthcare
agencies immediately, as soon as identified. (e.g. Cholera, Measles, Hepatitis A, Salmonellosis, gonorrhea,
HIV, etc.)
Predisposing Factors: the conditions and activities that can lead to the development of disease within a living
organism. These may include genetics, life events, or temperament. Predisposing factors include predisposing
characteristics and predisposing conditions. Predisposing characteristics are those factors that are based on the
social and demographic factors of a public that have a major effect on their health, illnesses, and how they will
accept treatment. The predisposing conditions are basically the same as the predisposing factors as they are
those conditions that give way to the development of disease. (e.g. lifestyle habits, immune deficiency, stress,
gene abnormalities, fatigue, age, environment, etc.)
Precipitating Factors: refer to a specific event or trigger to the onset of the current problem. Perpetuating
factors are those that maintain the problem once it has become established. (e.g blocked artery that leads to a
heart attack)
Manifestations: a perceptible, outward, or visible expression of the disease process or abnormal condition.
Signs: a physical response linked to a medical condition or illness that is detected by a physician, nurse, or
, medical device during the examination of a patient. Signs are objective and measurable data, and this
measurement can be central to diagnosing a medical problem.
Symptoms: a manifestation of the disease or illness, that is apparent to the patient; subjective input from the
patient.
Syndrome: a set of medical signs and symptoms which are correlated with each other and often associated with
a particular disease or disorder. The word derives from the Greek σύνδρομον, meaning "concurrence". When a
syndrome is paired with a definite cause this becomes a disease. (e.g Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Polycystic
Ovary Syndrome, etc.)
Diagnosis: the identification of a certain disease based on the patient’s medical history, signs/symptoms, and
diagnostic tests
Prognosis: the likelihood of recovery from an illness or disease
Pathogenesis: the origination and development of a disease. Insights into disease etiology and progression, the
two major aspects of pathogenesis, are paramount in the prevention, management and treatment of various
diseases
Negative Feedback Loop: also known as an inhibitory loop, is a type of self-regulating system. In a negative
feedback loop, increased output from the system inhibits future production by the system; meaning that the
output of the system acts to oppose changes from the input of the system with the desired result being a
restoration of homeostasis (restoring balance). This is the most common type of feedback system in the human
body.
Positive Feedback Loop: which a change in a given direction causes additional change in the same direction;
thus, the output is unable to accommodate an input change, which results in a net change of the system
(imbalance and loss of homeostasis). (e.g temperature regulation, onset of contraction during
childbirth/lactation during breast-feeding[examples of the body still in homeostasis during a positive feedback
loop], breathing air that has very high carbon dioxide content. The amount of oxygen in blood decreases while
the concentration of carbon-dioxide in blood increases. This is sensed by carbon dioxide receptors, which cause
the breathing rate to increase. So the person breathes faster, taking in mor\e carbon dioxide, which stimulates
the receptors even more, so they breathe faster and faster which ultimately results in death.)
2. DEFINE EPIDEMIOLOGY, MORBIDITY, MORTALITY, PREVALENCE, INCIDENCE AND HOMEOSTASIS:
Etiology: cause or set of causes of a disease or illness
Epidemiology: the study (scientific, systematic, and data-driven) of the distribution (frequency, pattern) and
determinants (causes, risk factors) of health-related states and events (not just diseases) in specified populations
(neighborhood, school, city, state, country, global).
Mortality: the number of deaths in a population during a given time or place; a mortality rate is the number of
deaths due to a disease divided by the total population.
Morbidity: any decrease or departure, whether subjective or objective, from a state of physiological or
psychological well-being or quality of life due to illness or disease.
Prevalence: a measure of the total number of people in a specific group who have (or had) a certain disease,
condition, or risk factor at a specific point in time or during a given period of time. A “snap-shot” of the disease
data.
Incidence: a measure of disease that allows us to determine a person's probability of being diagnosed with a
disease during a given period of time. Therefore, incidence is the number of newly diagnosed cases of a disease.
Homeostasis: from the Greek words for "same" and "steady," refers to any process that living things use to
actively maintain fairly stable conditions necessary for survival.
Primary Prevention of Disease: main focus is to avoid the development of the disease and to focus on
interventions to maintain a healthy life. Primary prevention also involves two further subdivisions that include
health promotion and health protection. Health promotion includes educating a patient on their health or on
nutrition; and includes any type of education that would promote a healthy lifestyle. Health protection is
anything that would protect the patient from developing a disease or illness; health protection can include
administering immunizations, requiring mask wearing, etc.
Secondary Prevention of Disease: refers to activities like screening and early diagnosis that aid in treatment of
