Page "Consciousness" Paragraph 71

In medicine, consciousness is examined using a set of procedures known as neuropsychological assessment.

There are two commonly used methods for assessing the level of consciousness of a patient: a simple procedure that requires minimal training, and a more complex procedure that requires substantial expertise.

The simple procedure begins by asking whether the patient is able to move and react to physical stimuli.

If so, the next question is whether the patient can respond in a meaningful way to questions and commands.

If so, the patient is asked for name, current location, and current day and time.

A patient who can answer all of these questions is said to be " oriented times three " ( sometimes denoted " Ox3 " on a medical chart ), and is usually considered fully conscious.