When you become a Nurse do you need to memorize all medical terms, symptoms, diseases and etc.?

Question

i know you have to know it but does everyone actually memorize it?

Answer 1

No one has everything about medicine memorized. I do think you have to memorize a lot of rather impractical stuff in nursing schooI used to be able to tell you all the bones in the wrist, and the microanatomy of the kidney, but couldn't do it now (only 6 yrs after nsg school), because I never use it. You learn a lot in nsg school about roots of medical words...hypo means low, hyper means high, nephro means kidney, hepat means liver. It's really not as complicated as it sounds. Nurses are not in charge of diagnosing patients, and thinking of every possible physiological scenario. I work on an ICU, and it's not terribly uncommon for a subspecialist doc to throw a term out there that I have never heard...so I ask.

Answer 2

There are many good answers already. Yes, Latin would make medical terms in general make more sense, but Latin is difficult and time consuming. May sound strange because our learning tool of learning is memorization, and it can be quite painful. Memory creates alot of stress, and you're often asking yourself, 'I think it means this, but I may be confused and it may mean that'. Symbols, in the beginning, must be memorized until their meaning becomes easily recognizable to you, I agree. However, if you steer your mind in a different direction, this may help. It did me, long,long ago. When it comes to math and science, just the idea of the two can be a little intimidating, and this keeps us from really getting into them or learning from them. In other words, get interested. As an example, I started out memorizing like most do, and then one year one of my professors suggested to me, 'Have you ever thought of looking at a subject, and seeing a wonderment in it'? I replied, what? A wonderment? This stuff is hard enough just to memorize. He said, think about the human body. It's perfect. From fingers that grasp, to the miracle of a baby growing inside of us. Imagine a single cell evolving into a human being. Do you want to memorize the biology, or do you want to experience the awe in it being so? Look at it. Experience it, and you will learn it. The best to you. Grizz

Answer 3

it isn't a nurses job to diagnose. but you need to be able to recognise symptoms that mean the patient is compromised, and when to call for help. this comes with experience. and you do become familiar with all the terms. the important thing to remember is that the only stupid question is the one you didn't ask. always check if in doubt. don't let you put this off. the good bits really make up for the bad, most of the time! as a junior, you should always have support and a peer that you can come to for advice, and there is always, if in doubt, question, and if u still aren't comfortable question again, and document well. the same as any job, the more you do it the more you remember.

Answer 4

When you become a nurse you need to know the basics - the stuff that you would use in any clinical setting such as recognising that a patient is having a cardiac arrest. However, you will find that you learn very quickly what you need to know in the speciality you are working in, e.g. working in an orthopaedic ward, you learn what are signs and symptoms are for comparment syndrome, but you wouldnt necessarily know about dialysis in renal patients. Hope this helps.

Answer 5

As a nurse its not your job to diagnose thats the doctors job, but no, you get training after that you learn it all on the job, nobody can know everything about medicine and never will just like a junior doctor doesnt know as much as a consultant because the consultant has seen more, yet the junior doctor still might be one step up if the consultant hasn't kept up to date on something and the junior doctor has seen it during medical school, since medical school teaching changes all the time.

Answer 6

Nurses may have to memorise many medical terms. But it`s very easy if one begins to study in nursing school. There is a method in the process. Each organ in human body has a medical name. Liver for example is Hepato .
Inflammation of liver is Hepat itis
Disease of liver is Hepat osis. New growth on liver is Hepat oma
Cutting a part of liver is Partial Hepat ectomy
And so on.
For stomach it`s Gatritis,Gastric ulcer Gastrectomy
Splenitis is inflammation of spleen .
etc

Answer 7

not necessarily since the function of the nurse is to diagnose and treat the symptoms rather than the disease. a nurse must UNDERSTAND the mechanics on how the symptoms occur and what are their causes and simply memorizing these would be meaningless w/o knowledge on the physiology of their occurrence. once that is done it is up to the nurse to treat which of the symptoms he or she feels to be of greater concern to the well-being of the patient

Answer 8

No, not necessarily. If you work in a specialized field you get a good grasp on those terms that are relevant to your work. Medical terminology is not nearly as scary as it seems, its all basic word parts. (i.e. bi=2, peri=around etc.)

Answer 9

of course! how else would you be a nurse if you don't know those things?