Hi, everyone:

This note is actually an extension of the message 'urine stat'. I have chosen to start another post because there was a lot of important information about this particular term getting lost on the other page.

As others have rightly pointed out, stat in medical terms means immediately. A stat order means the test, procedure, intervention needs to be done IMMEDIATELY, not in 5, 10 , 20 or more minutes. This is a rush order.

In Canada and the United States of America, you can also see STAT used to identify a very specific type of care unit. This is the Geriatric Short Term Assessment and Treatment Unit. The STAT unit at a hospital is a combination day/ambulatory care unit and may also provide short stays of less than 10 days in hospital. The major focus of a STAT unit like this is to differentiate between the signs and symptoms of physical illness as opposed to mental illness in the elderly. They often look very much the same. Clear, precise diagnosis is the goal so that the best treatment and care can be made available. Usually these units are staffed by physians, psychiatrists, registered psychiatric nurses, and registered nurses, in Canada plus a host of multidisciplinary professionals who all collaborate on patient care.

Bye for now...
Melodie

Oh, Hi, Abbey:
I only meant that many other readers might be interested in understanding the term +/or abbreviation STAT and that our lovely discussion was lost under the heading of 'urine stat'. I thought perhaps some readers wouldn't be inclined to read that message unless they were thinking about 'number one'! Ha-ha!

Melodie