[ Browse by Service Category : Occupations : Sub-Topics of Health Care Occupations (4) ]
Nurses/Nursing Support Personnel
Individuals who assist medical doctors with their work, deal with emergencies in their absence and provide nursing care for people who are sick or injured, have physical or mental disabilities or others in need of such care. They work to promote health, prevent disease and help patients cope with illness; and serve as advocates and health educators for patients, families and communities. Included are registered nurses, licensed vocational nurses and nursing assistants.
Physicians/Surgeons
Individuals who diagnose illnesses and prescribe and administer treatment for people suffering from injury or disease. Physicians examine patients; obtain medical histories; order, perform and interpret diagnostic tests; and counsel patients on diet, hygiene and preventive health care. Surgeons are physicians who specialize in the treatment of injury, disease and deformity through operations. Using a variety of instruments, and with patients under general or local anesthesia, a surgeon corrects physical deformities, repairs bone and tissue after injuries or performs preventive surgeries on patients with debilitating diseases or disorders. Physicians work in one or more specialties including anesthesiology, family and community medicine, general internal medicine, general pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, allergy, cardiology, dermatology, gastroenterology, radiology and surgery.
Rehabilitation Personnel
Individuals who provide treatment services for people with disabilities, disorders and injuries to relieve pain, develop or restore function, prevent muscular deconditioning and maintain optimum performance.
The above terms and definitions are part of the Taxonomy of Human Services, used here by permission of INFO LINE of Los Angeles.