introduction of Pathology in nursing.pdf

This pdf is important for nursing students
Thank you for all

1. Unit-1
INTRODCTION OF PATHOLOGY
Prepared by
Anshika Patel

2. Introduction
•Pathology is the study of disease processes and the changes that occur
in the tissues due to these disease processes.
•Pathology involves the investigation of the causes of disease (etiology)
and understanding the underlying mechanisms (pathogenesis) that
result in the presenting symptoms of the patient.
•Pathology involves the study of gross as well as microscopic changes
(morphology) that occur in cells, tissues, and organs.

3. Definition
•The word ‘pathology’ is derived from two Greek words-pathos
meaning suffering and logos meaning study. It is the study and
diagnosis of disease through examination of organs, tissues, body
fluids, and whole bodies (autopsy).
•Pathology is the scientific study of disease covering it’s cause, process,
and effects. It involves analyzingcells, tissue, and organs to diagnosis
condition and provides the scientific basis for patient care, linking
science with medicine.
•Pathology is a branch of medical science that is focused on the study
and diagnosis of disease.

4. TermsinPathology
•Patientis the person suffering from the disease.
•Lesionsare pathological changes in cells and tissues, produced by the
disease.
•Etiologyis the cause/causal factor of disease.
•Pathophysiologyis the study of deranged (patho) bodily functions
(physiology), which occur as a consequence of the disease.
•Pathogenesisis the mechanism of disease evolution and progression.
•Morphologyis the structural changes in cells and organs.
•Grossormacroscopicexamination refers to the structural changes in organ
systems or tissues observed by the naked eye.

5. •Microscopicfindingsrefer to the morphological changes detected by
the use of light or electron microscopy.
•Clinicalsignificanceis the term used to explain the relationship of
clinical features to tissue/cellular level changes occurring in the
disease.
•Diagnosisis the final opinion on what is wrong with the patient.
•Prognosisrefers to the fate of the patient suffering from the disease.
•Preventionrefers to the steps that can be taken to avoid further
complications of the disease

6. SubdivisionofPathology
•GeneralPathology
•General pathology is also called investigative pathology, experimental
pathology, or theoretical pathology.
•It is a broad and complex scientific field, which seeks to understand
the mechanisms of injury to cells and tissues, as well as the body’s
response to injury.
•Areas of study include cellular adaptation to injury, repair and wound
healing, inflammation, necrosis.
•General pathology forms the foundation of pathology and the
application of this knowledge is essential to diagnose diseases.

7. •SystemicPathology
•Systemic pathology is the study of diseases pertaining to specific
organs systems. Examples of organ-specific diseases are goiter,
pneumonia, osteomyelitis, meningitis, breast cancer, and so on.
Systemic pathology includes the following subspecialties:
1.Histopathology:Itisthetraditionalmethodofstudyingpathology.
Itdealswiththeinvestigationanddiagnosisofdiseaseby
examinationoftissuesbythenakedeye(grossexamination),
followedbymicroscopicexaminationofthesectionstakenfrom
tissues.Itisfurthercategorizedinto:
a.Surgicalpathology:
Itdealswiththestudyoftissuesremovedsurgicallyfromalivepatient.
Thetissuesaregrossed,processed,andembedded,followedby
sectioningoftheembeddedtissues.

8. b. Forensicpathologyorautopsypathology:
•It deals with the study of organs removed after the death of the patient, at
postmortemexamination (autopsy).
•Forensic pathology aims to detect the underlying pathology and cause of
death.
2.Hematology: It deals with the study of blood, and the disorders of blood
cells and haemostasis.
3.Cytopathology: It is a relatively new diagnostic discipline, which has
branched out from surgical pathology. It deals with the study of cells
collected from body organs/masses by fine-needle aspiration cytology
(FNAC) or cells that are shed out from body surfaces (exfoliative cytology).
4.Immunology: The study of abnormalities of specific defensemechanisms
(immune system) of the body.

9. 5.Chemicalpathology: It deals with the diagnosis of disease by analyzing
the chemical changes in blood and body fluids.
6.Genetics: The study of abnormalities in chromosomes and genes to find
out the inheritance of diseases.
7.Molecularpathology: This is the detection and diagnosis of diseases at the
nuclear level deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) of cells.
IMPORTANCE OFTHESTUDYOFPATHOLOGY INTHE
NURSING
•Nurses today are not merely restricted to providing bedside care to sick and
injured hospitalized patients; they have more challenging expansions and
extensions of their role in the healthcare delivery system.
•The study of pathology will prepare the nurses to understand how the
disease started, what was the main cause of the disease process, how
diseases are diagnosed, and what changes may be expected at the cellular,
tissue, and organ level during the illness.

10. •UnderstandingtheCausesofDisease
•To understand the patterns and classification of diseases.
•Understanding the basic nature of diseases, such as inflammatory,
degenerative, hemodynamic, infective, autoimmune and neoplastic
•To understand the etiologyand pathophysiological mechanisms, which
underlie a disease process
•To familiarize the nurses with various diagnostic tests and the
terminologies used in pathological reports.

11. •KnowledgeaboutProgressionoftheDisease
•The knowledge of pathology helps the nurses to understand the basic
structural and functional changes that occur in tissues, organs and the
body as a whole.
•To appraise the evolution of disease from its causes to the clinical
presentation including signs and symptoms of diseases.
•To correlate the clinical features with the structural and functional
pathological alterations in the organs due to the disease process.
•Pathology serves as a foundation for nurses to understand the
pathophysiology of a disease so that nursing care can be planned more
efficiently.

12. •Early and Effective Diagnosis of Disorders
•The clinical manifestations of several diseases may be similar, but the
treatment of these conditions may vary considerably. Hence, it
becomes very important to establish the correct diagnosis of the
disease.
•This is where the knowledge of pathology helps the healthcare
provider. There are numerous pathological tests available and the
healthcare provider needs to have a sound knowledge of pathology so
as to order the most relevant test to diagnose the condition correctly.

13. Prevention of Disease Condition
•There are several routine screening tests, which assist the healthcare
providers to diagnose a disease in the initial stages and therefore take
preventive measures.
•For example, routine fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of breast
lumps helps in the early detection of malignant lumps, so that early
intervention can be done to prevent unwanted morbidity.
•Therefore, it is important for the healthcare providers to understand
the nature, spread, and progression of a disease so as to appreciate the
preventive measures.

14. •Helps in Effective Management and CareofPatients
•The knowledge of pathology helps the healthcare providers/nurses to
interpret the laboratory results in light of the signs and symptoms of
the patient.
•It provides a better understanding of the current disease status and
monitoring the progression of the illness. This information helps them
to plan patient care and management more effectively and judiciously
•The knowledge of pathology helps the nurses to understand the
ongoing health status of patients; and to assess whether the patient is
responding to treatment, by monitoring a series of pathological
laboratory results.