Dictionary

NCLEX words

The exam's own working vocabulary: assess, reinforce, prioritize, UAP and the rest.

informed consentA person's agreement to a treatment or procedure, given freely after the risks, benefits and other choices have been explained to them.

instrumental activities of daily livingThe more complex tasks a person needs to live on their own, such as managing money, medicines, shopping and cooking.

intakeWhat a person takes into the body, especially fluids or food, counted over a set time.

intake and outputThe measured record of all fluids a client takes in and all fluids that leave the body over a set time.

intermittentStarting and stopping; happening at intervals rather than all the time.

interpersonalHappening between people, such as communication, relationships or conflict between two or more people.

interprofessionalInvolving people from two or more health professions working together.

interprofessional teamHealth workers from different professions who plan and give a client's care together.

interventionAn action taken to help a client, such as a treatment, a test, a teaching session or a nursing action.

intrinsicComing from inside, or belonging naturally to something itself.

invasion of privacyIntruding on a person's private life or sharing their private information or images without permission.

invasiveEntering the body through the skin or a body opening; for a cancer or infection, spreading into nearby tissue.

irreversibleNot able to be undone or changed back to the way it was before.

ISBARRIntroduction, Situation, Background, Assessment, Request, Repeat back: a set order for sharing client information.

isolation precautionsExtra infection-control measures, added to standard precautions, for clients known or thought to have certain contagious infections.

judgmentThe ability to think a situation through and make sound, safe decisions.

justiceThe ethical principle of treating people fairly and sharing care and resources fairly.

least restrictive interventionThe rule of choosing the measure that limits a client's freedom the least while still keeping everyone safe.

level of consciousnessHow awake, alert and aware of their surroundings a person is.

licensed practical nurseA nurse who has passed the NCLEX-PN and is licensed to give basic nursing care under an RN or other provider.

licensureThe granting of a license by a government body that gives a person legal permission to practice a profession.

living willA written legal document that says which medical treatments a person does or does not want if they cannot speak for themselves.

localizedLimited to one area of the body, rather than spread through it.

logrollTo turn a client as one unit, keeping the head, neck, spine and hips in a straight line.

look-alike sound-alikeDescribes drug names that look or sound similar to other drug names and so are easily confused.

malpracticeNegligence by a professional, such as a nurse or doctor, that harms a client.

mandatory reportingA legal duty to report certain things, such as suspected abuse or some diseases, to the proper authorities.

mass casualty triageSorting many injured people quickly by need when there are more victims than staff and supplies can treat at once.

medical asepsisClean technique: practices that lower the number of germs and stop them spreading from one person or object to another.

medical diagnosisThe name of a disease or condition, given by a physician or other provider, that explains a client's signs and symptoms.

medical interpreterA trained person who changes spoken or signed words from one language to another so clients and health care workers understand each other.

medication reconciliationComparing a client's full list of current medicines with new orders at each change in care, to find and fix differences.

mental statusA person's state of mind at a given time: how alert they are, what they know and how they think, speak and behave.

mishearTo hear something wrongly.

misstateTo say or write something wrongly.

monitorTo watch, check or measure something again and again over a period of time.

moodA person's inner emotional state that lasts over time, as the person describes it.

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.

near missAn error or unsafe situation that was caught before it reached the client, so no harm was done.

negligenceFailure to use the care that a reasonably careful person would use in the same situation.

Next Generation NCLEXThe version of the NCLEX exam, used since April 2023, built to measure clinical judgment with case studies and new question types.

nonmaleficenceThe ethical principle of doing no harm to the client.

nontherapeutic communicationWays of responding to a client that shut down open, honest talk instead of encouraging it.

nonverbalWithout words: communicated through facial expression, body language, touch, tone of voice or silence.

nonverbal communicationSending messages without words, through facial expression, eye contact, posture, gestures, touch and tone of voice.

normal griefThe usual feelings, thoughts and behaviors that follow a loss, such as a death.

notify the health care providerTo tell the person who prescribes the client's care about a finding, change or problem.

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