Dictionary

NCLEX words

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

room airOrdinary air breathed without added oxygen; it is about 21% oxygen.

root cause analysisA structured review after a serious error or harmful event that looks for the underlying system problems that let it happen.

rousableAble to be woken up.

SBARA four-part way to report about a client: situation, background, assessment and recommendation.

scope of practiceThe actions and duties a licensed professional is legally allowed to perform.

seclusionKeeping a client alone in a room, against their will, that they are prevented from leaving.

secondary preventionThe level of prevention that finds a disease early and treats it promptly so it does not get worse.

seizure precautionsSafety steps set up for a client at risk of seizures, to prevent injury if one happens.

select all that applyA test question that asks you to choose every correct answer from a list, where more than one may be right.

sentinel eventAn unexpected event in health care that causes a client's death, permanent harm or severe temporary harm.

side effectAn effect of a drug, other than the one it is given for, that is known and expected to happen in some people.

sitterA staff member assigned to stay with one client and watch them continuously to keep them safe.

six P'sA memory aid listing six things checked in a limb: pain, pallor, pulselessness, paresthesia, paralysis and poikilothermia (coldness).

stabilizationBringing something to a steady, controlled state, such as a client's condition, an injured body part or a crisis.

stableDescribes a client whose condition is not changing and whose response to care can be predicted.

standard of careThe level of care that a reasonably careful nurse with the same training would give in the same situation.

standard precautionsThe basic infection-control practices used with every client, whether or not an infection is known.

statImmediately; at once.

sterile fieldAn area set up with sterile drapes and supplies, kept free of all germs, for a sterile procedure.

stimulationSomething that rouses a nerve, organ or person to act or respond, or the act of rousing it.

subjective dataInformation the client (or family) tells the nurse, which only the person can know and the nurse cannot measure.

suicide precautionsThe safety measures used to protect a client who is at risk of harming or killing themselves.

summonTo call for someone to come, especially for help.

superviseTo guide, watch over and check the work of another staff member who is doing a task.

synthesizeTo make something by combining simpler parts, or to combine pieces of information into a whole.

systematicDone in a planned, orderly way, step by step, following a method.

take actionThe fifth step of the NCSBN Clinical Judgment Measurement Model: carrying out the nursing actions chosen for the client.

tall man letteringWriting parts of look-alike drug names in capital letters so the difference between them stands out.

teach-backA way to check understanding by asking the client to explain, in their own words, what they have just been taught.

telephone orderA treatment or medication order a provider gives to a nurse by phone instead of entering it in writing.

terminologyThe special words and terms used in a particular field, such as medicine or nursing.

tertiary preventionThe level of prevention that limits harm and disability from a disease a person already has.

therapeutic communicationPurposeful, client-centered communication that helps a client express feelings and work toward health.

therapeutic effectThe helpful effect a drug or treatment is given to produce.

therapeutic milieuA treatment setting, such as a mental health unit, arranged so that the place, the routine and the people in it help clients recover.

therapeutic relationshipA professional relationship between a nurse and a client that is focused on the client's needs and goals.

time-outA pause just before a procedure when the whole team confirms the right client, procedure and site; also, a short break to calm a child.

titrateTo adjust the dose or rate of a drug step by step until the wanted effect is reached.

toleranceA reduced response to a drug after repeated use, so a higher dose is needed for the same effect; also the ability to endure something.

tortA wrong act, or a failure to act, that harms another person and for which a court can make the wrongdoer pay.

transientLasting only a short time and then going away.

trendThe direction a set of findings moves over time, such as a value that keeps rising or falling.

triageSorting clients by how urgently they need care, to decide who is seen first.

two client identifiersTwo pieces of information unique to a client, such as full name and date of birth, used to confirm who they are before care.

UAPUnlicensed assistive personnel: trained workers without a nursing license, such as nursing assistants, who help with client care.

underpadAn absorbent pad placed under a client to protect the skin and bed from urine, stool or drainage.

unexpected findingAn assessment result that is not what would be expected for this client's condition, age or treatment.

unstableDescribes a client whose condition is changing quickly or is hard to predict.

urine outputThe amount of urine a person passes over a set time, measured in milliliters.

validateTo check that information is correct; in communication, to show a person that their feelings are understood and accepted.