I am a first year nursing student who is currently in clinicals. Can someone please give me an easy to understand definition of "status post" ? My current pt is s/p tracheostomy. I haven't really gotten any satidfaction from my instructor. Thanks to anyone who can help!
elkpark 14,633 Posts Mar 15, 2006 "Status post" (abbreviated s/p, as you note) is just medicalese for "the patient had a (X)" (at some point in the past) -- her/his status is post-(whatever the specified procedure is)."S/p tracheostomy" just means that your patient has had a tracheostomy; "s/p L BKA" would mean that the patient has had a left below the knee amputation, etc., etc. "S/p" notations in the diagnosis or admit notes are usually used not to note the person's entire medical history, but to highlight the most recent acute medical problems and chronic conditions (like a tracheostomy, mastectomy, missing organs, etc.) that everyone needs to know about up front because they impact the patient's care/treatment of whatever the current/acute problem is.
Daytonite, BSN, RN 4 Articles; 14,603 Posts Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt. Has 40 years experience. Mar 16, 2006 "status post" is a Latin expression that means "condition after", so your current pt is being referred to as his/her condition after a tracheostomy.If you do not already have a medical dictionary, I strongly recommend that you invest in one, preferably Taber's. You would have found this information in Taber's.
arv 16 Posts Mar 16, 2006 Thanks so much. I tried to look this up in the 20th edition of Tabers, but it wasn't listed (not under status at least!) The way you explained it is exactly what I needed to know. Thanks again. "Status post" (abbreviated s/p, as you note) is just medicalese for "the patient had a (X)" (at some point in the past) -- her/his status is post-(whatever the specified procedure is)."S/p tracheostomy" just means that your patient has had a tracheostomy; "s/p L BKA" would mean that the patient has had a left below the knee amputation, etc., etc. "S/p" notations in the diagnosis or admit notes are usually used not to note the person's entire medical history, but to highlight the most recent acute medical problems and chronic conditions (like a tracheostomy, mastectomy, missing organs, etc.) that everyone needs to know about up front because they impact the patient's care/treatment of whatever the current/acute problem is.
Daytonite, BSN, RN 4 Articles; 14,603 Posts Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt. Has 40 years experience. Mar 17, 2006 I found both words in my copy of Taber's which is an 18th edition. Status and post are listed separately in the main listings. Both are latin words. Status meaning condition; post meaning after. Put together they would mean condition after. Try looking again. I can't think why they would have deleted them since this book gets thicker all the time.
carolinapooh, BSN, RN 3,577 Posts Has 10 years experience. Mar 17, 2006 Is it listed under the abbreviations? I think they're printed on the inside of the front and back covers.
Daytonite, BSN, RN 4 Articles; 14,603 Posts Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt. Has 40 years experience. Mar 18, 2006 In my Taber's, "post" is listed in the "P's" between "Possum" and "postabortal" on page 1531. If you have a different edition, the page numbers will be different. "Status" is on page 1826 in the "T's" between the words "stature" and "statute".
