Lecture Notes: Medical Terminology for Sterile Processing Technicians

Introduction

• Purpose: Importance of medical terminology for Sterile Processing Technicians in effective communication, patient care, and professional task performance.
• Learning Objectives:
  1. Explain the importance of medical terminology.
  2. Identify elements used in medical terminology: prefixes, roots, suffixes.
  3. Discuss reference to human anatomy, disease processes, instruments, procedures.
  4. Understand terminology in surgical procedures and schedules.
  5. Understand the importance for service quality in the operating room.

Importance of Medical Terminology

• Enables effective communication among healthcare professionals.
• Assists in understanding surgical procedures, patient outcomes, and requests.
• Recognized by professional standards (AORN, ANSI, AAMI, TJC) as a crucial competency.

Understanding the Operating Room

• Sterile Processing Technicians need to understand requests for surgical instruments and supplies.
• Example: Emergency procedures like pericardial window or abdominal aortic aneurysm.
• "Stat" means immediate action is required.

Anatomy of Medical Terms

• Components of Medical Terms:
  • Root Words: Primary meaning of the word.
  • Prefixes: Modify the meaning, come before root.
  • Suffixes: Modify meaning, come after root.
  • Combining Vowel: Typically "o", used to ease pronunciation.

Examples

• Cardiology: Cardio (heart) + ology (study of).
• Hysteropexy: Hyster (uterus) + pexy (fixation).
• Bronchitis: Bronch (bronchus) + itis (inflammation).

Medical Abbreviations and Acronyms

• Common surgical procedure acronyms include AAA, ACF, AKA, BSO, LVH, MIDCAB, ORIF.
• Importance of understanding these for accurate communication and service provision.

Surgical Procedures and Schedules

• Suffixes in Surgery: Indicate purpose (e.g., -oscopy, -otomy, -ectomy, -plasty).
• Approach in Procedures: Indicated by prefixes or roots (e.g., laparoscopic, robotic).

Understanding Usage

• Continuous learning due to evolving medical technology and terminology.
• Critical for ensuring accurate communication and efficient workflow in healthcare settings.

Conclusion

• Knowledge of medical terminology is essential for Sterile Processing Technicians to ensure effective communication with healthcare professionals and to perform their duties efficiently.
• Understanding terminology helps prevent errors and improve patient outcomes in surgical environments.