A former healthcare worker shares his favorite word: esophagastroduodenoscopy. That’s a procedure where an endoscope is passed through the mouth and down the throat into the esophagus, stomach, and duodenum. It may be a mouthful, but even a word...
A nurse in Jacksonville, Florida, finds that, without even being aware of it, she takes on the accent of her patients, and she wonders whether that’s because she’s in a profession where she needs to make strong connections quickly with...
Terry, a health-care worker in Traverse City, Michigan, says she and her colleagues use the term cohorting to describe the act of grouping patients with COVID-19 in designated facilities. But they’re not sure what word to use to denote...
C diff n.— «We are told that 60,000 hospital patients this year will catch the superbug Clostridium difficile.…Cases of “C diff,” as it is known in the trade, have risen by 22 per cent in the past year, affecting more than...
splitter n.— «Schaffler estimates that Armstrong has helped as many as 600 patients. Armstrong is what’s known as a splitter, meaning each time he donates his platelets can serve up to three people.» —“Platelet donor gives gift of...
tweener n.— «The subject of Keokuk and six other hospitals in Iowa, referred to as “tweeners,” that are neither eligible for funding as large urban centers nor small critical access hospitals was explored along with Medicare reimbursement...

