Dictionary

Abbreviations

Abbreviations nurses read and write, with the ones never to use.

N95A close-fitting respirator mask that filters at least 95% of tiny particles from the air the wearer breathes.

NADNicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, a helper molecule in cell energy; in charting, often "no acute distress".

NADHThe form of NAD that carries electrons and energy from food to the cell's energy-making machinery.

NADPHNicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate: a molecule that carries electrons for chemical reactions in the body's cells.

NCLEXNational Council Licensure Examination: the US and Canadian licensing exams for nurses.

NCLEX-PNThe national licensing exam that practical and vocational nurses (LPNs and LVNs) pass before they can work.

NCLEX-RNThe National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses, the exam graduates must pass to be licensed as RNs.

NCSNerve conduction study: a test that measures how fast and how strongly electrical signals travel along a nerve.

NCSBNNational Council of State Boards of Nursing: the US group of nursing boards that writes and runs the NCLEX exams.

ng/mLNanograms per milliliter: a unit for very small amounts of a substance in blood or another fluid.

NICUNeonatal intensive care unit: a hospital unit that cares for newborns who are sick or born early.

NKDANo known drug allergies: a charting note that the client reports no allergic reactions to any medicine.

NLNNational League for Nursing: a US organization devoted to nursing education and nursing faculty.

NPHNeutral protamine Hagedorn, the intermediate-acting insulin; in neurology notes, normal pressure hydrocephalus.

NPONothing by mouth: an order that a client must not eat or drink anything.

NSAn abbreviation used most often for normal saline, a solution of 0.9% sodium chloride in water.

NSTEMINon-ST-elevation myocardial infarction: a heart attack that does not raise the ST segment on the ECG.