Key Online Nursing Dictionary Resources that a Student Could Reference

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You started on your new career path of nursing school and you were just told that you would need a reliable medical dictionary. Now, you need to figure out where to get one and which is the best one to get. The last thing a nurse or any other medical professional wants to do is mistake the meaning of Neuro and Nephro and which parts of the body they are. Learning medical terminology is critical for any person in the health care field. Since a nurse gets their instructions from the doctors and other healthcare professionals, making sure you understand what you are supposed to do is life or death in many cases. Getting it wrong is not an option.

How Do You Pick?

The first thing you might want to do as a student is to talk to other students and see what kind of insight and advice they might be able to give to you. What materials do they refer to most and what is helping them most in their studies. Find out what dictionary they prefer and which one gives them the most detailed information. While Webster’s may be one of the best for general reference, it might not be the best choice for the medical field. After doing a little research, there seems to be two books that are recommended.

According to Stedman’s Online, there is an alphabetical list of anything medical that can be referenced. Since this medical dictionary is online and considered to be one of the most reliable, this may be a good choice; however, it was found that the term Fibromyalgia was not in the book. With newer terms such as Fibromyalgia not being in the book, one would think maybe this version is out of date.

Researching again, it was found that Tabers Online, might be a more complete solution that is more up to date. When Fibromyalgia was entered into the search field Fibromyalgia, Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire, Fibromyalgia Syndrome-primary and Fibromyositis all came up for this dictionary findings. Quite a difference.

How a Medical Dictionary Can Help

Being able to reference what you need to know and knowing that you can trust the information that is found is a matter of life and death when in the medical field. There must be great attention to detail and done with impeccable accuracy. Mixing body parts up when treating patients and performing surgery is not an option in any circumstances. These kinds of mistakes are what cause death and cost medical licenses billions upon billions in dollars in malpractice suits.

Students need to do research to ensure they get the most accurate information from not only their education or educators, but also all their materials used while in school. It never hurts to ask for advice from other students and faculty and get their perspectives and insight on what might be the best educational options for you to make absolutely sure you get the very best possible education available. These things are part of the investment in not only your education, but also in yourself and your knowledge.