GC: n
S: NCBI – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK536505/ (last access: 3 July 2024); NHS – https://www.wwl.nhs.uk/inpatient-and-outpatient-guides (last access: 3 July 2024).
N: 1. – in-patient (n): also inpatient, “person lodged and fed, as well as treated, at a hospital or infirmary,” 1760, from in (adj.) + patient (n.). As an adjective by 1890.
– care (n): Old English caru, cearu “sorrow, anxiety, grief,” also “burdens of mind; serious mental attention,” in late Old English also “concern, anxiety caused by apprehension of evil or the weight of many burdens,” from Proto-Germanic *karō “lament; grief, care” (source also of Old Saxon kara “sorrow;” Old High German chara “wail, lament;” Gothic kara “sorrow, trouble, care;” German Karfreitag “Good Friday;” see care (v.)).
The meaning “charge, oversight, attention or heed with a view to safety or protection” is attested from c. 1400; this is the sense in care of in addressing (1840). The meaning “object or matter of concern” is from 1580s. To take care of “take in hand, do” is from 1580s; take care “be careful” also is from 1580s.
2. What’s the main difference between inpatient and outpatient care?
- Generally speaking, inpatient care requires you to stay in a hospital and outpatient care does not. The big difference is whether you need to be hospitalized or not.
3. What is inpatient care?
- Inpatient care is care provided in a hospital or other type of inpatient facility, where you are admitted, and spend at least one night—sometimes more—depending on your condition.
As an inpatient:
- You are under the care of doctors, nurses, and other types of health care professionals within a hospital.
- You are often admitted to a particular service, such as Neurology, Cardiology, Orthopedics, Oncology, General Surgery, etc., depending on what you are being treated for.
- You may be an inpatient due to surgery, illness, childbirth, or traumatic injury. There are inpatient facilities and hospitals for substance use and mental health illness, as well.
- Your inpatient stay may have been planned ahead—such as a knee replacement surgery or childbirth.
- Your stay may have been the result of an emergency or unplanned illness or injury, such as a heart attack or serious car accident.
- You are in need of medicine, care, monitoring, and medical treatment—the kind that’s provided by around-the-clock medical staff.
Once a doctor decides you no longer require inpatient care, you are discharged from the facility. Discharge notes often include instructions to follow up with various doctors, take prescribed medications, and even receive outpatient services, if needed.
4. What is outpatient care?
- Outpatient care—the kind that you don’t have to stay in a hospital for—can vary greatly. Other than an annual check-up or blood test, almost any other kind of care can be defined as outpatient. These may be diagnostic tests, treatments, or other types of procedures.
- Outpatient care may be provided in a hospital, as well as a walk-in clinic, an outpatient surgery center, and even your doctor’s office.
S: 1. Etymonline – https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=in-patient+care (last access: 3 July 2024). 2 to 4. CIGNA – https://www.cigna.com/knowledge-center/what-is-inpatient-vs-outpatient-care (last access: 3 July 2024).
OV: in-patient
S: Etymonline – https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=in-patient+care (last access: 3 July 2024)
SYN:
S:
CR: health care
