356 Essential Skills for Health Careers Success
combining vowel letter used to combine two
word roots, or a word root and a suffi x; usu-
ally an o
common denominator the number that can be
divided evenly by all of the denominators in a
group of fractions
compassion deep awareness and concern for
the suffering of others coupled with the desire
to relieve this suffering
competence the ability to do your job well
complex sentence sentence with an indepen-
dent clause joined by one or more dependent
clauses
compound sentence sentence containing two
independent clauses joined by a conjunction
comprehension an understanding of what you
have read or heard
compromise settlement of differences where
each side makes concessions
computer hardware devices such as the moni-
tor or keyboard that are connected to the
computer
computer on wheels (COW) a mobile com-
puter used to access and enter patient infor-
mation while moving around the healthcare
facility; often rolled into a patient’s hospital
room
computer virus malware designed to copy itself
into other programs; may cause the affected
computer to operate incorrectly or corrupt the
computer memory
confi dentiality the practice of allowing only
certain individuals the right to access infor-
mation; ensures that others do not have the
personal information of others
confl ict resolution methods for alleviating or
eliminating sources of confl ict
conjunction a word that joins other words,
phrases, clauses, or sentences
consonants all letters of the English alphabet
except a, e, i, o, and u
contraction a shortened form of a word or term;
one or more letters are omitted and replaced
with an apostrophe to create one word
cover letter a letter that accompanies a résumé
to provide additional information about the
applicant’s skills and experience
criminal law directives that pertain to a crime
in which the guilty party is punished by incar-
ceration and possible fi nes
critical thinking a process of actively and skill-
fully analyzing and evaluating information to
draw a conclusion
cytoplasm transparent, gel-like substance inside
of every cell; cellular activities occur here
D
database collection of records such as
addresses, phone numbers, and other patient
information
decimal numbers numbers expressed with a
decimal point; values left of the decimal are
whole numbers and values to the right are
fractions
decoding the process used to break down
words into recognizable units as part of a word
dementia a disorder featuring a progressive
loss of memory and other intellectual functions
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) genetic material
shaped like a double helix; part of all living cells
diabetes an incurable metabolic disease that
results in an increased level of glucose, or
sugar, in the blood
diagnostic-related groups (DRGs) a system
that categorizes patients according to their
diagnosis
diagnostic services a healthcare pathway offer-
ing careers in implementing procedures to
determine causes of diseases or disorders
differentiation process through which cells of
the body vary according to their specifi c function