Acute care
Acute Care
Acute care is a branch of secondary health care where a patient receives active but short-term treatment for a severe injury or episode of illness, an urgent medical condition, or during recovery from surgery. In medical terms, care for acute health conditions is the opposite from chronic care, or longer term care.
Pronunciation
Acute care is pronounced as /əˈkjuːt keər/.
Etymology
The term "acute" comes from the Latin word "acutus", meaning "sharp", and is used in medicine to describe the nature of onset of health problems, whether they are diseases, injuries, or other medical conditions. The term "care" comes from the Old English "caru", which means "sorrow, anxiety, grief", and in the medical context, it refers to the practice of looking after patients.
Related Terms
- Chronic Care: Chronic care refers to medical care which addresses pre-existing or long term illness, as opposed to acute care which is generally treatment of short-term or severe illness.
- Primary Care: Primary care is the day-to-day healthcare given by a health care provider. It provides the first point of contact for all patients within the health care system.
- Secondary Care: Secondary care, also known as hospital care, is healthcare services provided by medical specialists and other health professionals who generally do not have first contact with patients.
- Tertiary Care: Tertiary care is specialized consultative healthcare, usually for inpatients and on referral from a primary or secondary health professional, in a facility that has personnel and facilities for advanced medical investigation and treatment.
See Also
External links
- Medical encyclopedia article on Acute care
- Wikipedia's article - Acute care
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