All terms
Denial
A patient’s refusal or inability to accept distressing information, often a protective response to bad news rather than a failure to understand.
Pushing against denial rarely helps. Acknowledging the patient’s position, offering information at their pace, and leaving the door open is the supportive approach examiners reward.
More glossary terms
- ABCDE approachA systematic method for assessing and treating an acutely unwell patient — Airway, Breathing, Circulation, Disability, Exposure — dealing with each before moving on.
- AMPLE historyA focused emergency history — Allergies, Medications, Past history, Last meal, Events — taken quickly in acute situations.
- ARCPThe annual assessment that decides whether a doctor in training has met the competencies to progress to the next stage.
- AVPU scaleA rapid way to grade consciousness — Alert, responds to Voice, responds to Pain, Unresponsive — used in initial assessment.
Put it into practice
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