Disease may be defined as the
abnormal state in which part or all of the body is not properly adjusted or is
not capable of carrying on all its required functions. There are marked
variations in the extent of the disease and in its effect on the
person. In order to treat a disease, the doctor obviously must
first determine the nature of the illness—that is, make a diagnosis. A diagnosis
is the conclusion drawn from a number of facts put together. The doctor must
know the symptoms, which are the changes in body function felt by the patient;
and the signs (also called objective symptoms) which the doctor himself can
observe. Sometimes a characteristic group of signs (or symptoms) accompanied a
given disease. Such a group is called a syndrome. Frequently certain laboratory
tests are performed and the results evaluated by the physician in making his
diagnosis. Although nurses do not diagnose, they play an
extremely valuable role in this process by observing closely for signs,
encouraging the patient to talk about himself and his symptoms, and then
reporting this information to the doctor. Once the patient's disorder is known,
the doctor prescribes a course of treatment, also referred to as therapy. Many
measures in this course of treatment are carried out by the nurse under the
physician's orders. In recent years physicians, nurses and
other health workers have taken on increasing responsibilities in prevention.
Throughout most of medical history, the physician's aim has been to cure a
patient of an existing disease. However, the modern concept of prevention seeks
to stop disease before it actually happens—to keep people well through the
promotion of health. A vast number of organizations exist for this purpose,
ranging from the World Health Organization (WHO) on an international level down
to local private and community health programs. A rapidly growing responsibility
of the nursing profession is educating individual patients toward the
maintenance of total health—physical and mental.
单选题
By disease it means the condition in which one or more parts of the
body fail to function properly.