DEFINITION OF TERMS:

1. Anxiety- is a multisystem response to a perceived threat or danger. It reflects a

combination of biochemical changes in the body, the patient's personal history and
memory, and the social situation
2. Hospitalization- the placing of a patient in a hospital for treatment.
3. Anesthetic Agent- Medication or drugs that can be injected with a needle or rubbed onto
and area to make it numb before a surgical procedure. Anesthesia drugs may also be
given by mouth, breathed in as a gas, or injected into a vein or muscle to make a patient
relaxed or unconscious.
4. Interventions- any measure whose purpose is to improve health or alter the course of
disease.
5. Coping mechanisms- any effort directed to stress management, including task-oriented
and ego defense mechanisms, the factors that enable an individual to regain emotional
equilibrium after a stressful experience. It may be an unconscious process.
6. Coping style- the cognitive, affective, or behavioral responses of a person to problematic
or traumatic life events.
7. Relaxation techniques- The act of relaxing or the state of being relaxed
8. Ambulatory- walking or able to walk; not confined to bed.
9. Analgesia- the relief of pain without loss of consciousness.
10. Surgeon- a physician who specializes in surgery.
11. Surgery- the branch of medicine that treats diseases, injuries, and deformities by manual
or operative methods.
12. Pain- is an unpleasant feeling that is conveyed to the brain by sensory neurons. The
discomfort signals actual or potential injury to the body.
13. Operation- any action performed with instruments or by the hands of a surgeon; a
surgical procedure.
14. Fear- the unpleasant emotional state consisting of psychological and
psychophysiological responses to a real external threat or danger, including agitation,
alertness, tension, and mobilization of the alarm reaction.
15. Cumulative effect- The state at which repeated administration of a drug may produce
effects that are more pronounced than those produced by the first dose.
16. Music therapy- is a technique of complementary medicine that uses music prescribed in
a skilled manner by trained therapists.
17. Stress- is defined as an organism's total response to environmental demands or pressures.
18. Patient- One who receives medical attention, care, or treatment.