Nursing practice

Leaving clients in your care without proper notice or a handoff to another qualified caregiver.

A shortened form of a word or phrase, such as NPO for nothing by mouth or BP for blood pressure.

A memory aid with two common uses: the warning signs of melanoma in a mole, and the order of the first check of a seriously ill or injured client.

Airway, breathing and circulation: a way of ranking a client's needs in that order.

A wide elastic band fastened snugly around the belly to support the abdomen and hold dressings after surgery.

Choosing not to do something, most often not having sex, or not using alcohol or drugs.

Being answerable for your own decisions, actions and the results of the care you give or hand to others.

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists: the US professional organization of doctors who care for pregnancy and women's health.

Advance care planning: talking about and writing down the care a person would want if they could no longer speak for themselves.

Listening with full attention to what a person says and means, and showing them you have understood.

A person actively trying to kill people in a building or other populated place, most often with a firearm.

The basic self-care tasks of everyday life, such as bathing, dressing, eating, toileting and moving about.

How ill a client is and how much nursing care they need; in an eye exam, how sharply a person sees.

Starting suddenly and lasting a short time; also used for something severe or sharp.

Short-term care for a sudden illness, injury or surgery, usually given in a hospital.

Tools and devices that help a person with an illness or disability do daily tasks more easily and on their own.

How closely a client follows a treatment plan they have agreed to, such as taking medicines as prescribed.

A change made to fit a new situation, such as changing a dose, a position or a way of living.

The process of a client entering a hospital or other care setting to receive care.

Associate Degree in Nursing: a two- to three-year college degree that prepares graduates to take the NCLEX-RN.

The stage of life between childhood and adulthood, starting with puberty, roughly ages 12 to 18.

Assessment, Diagnosis, Outcomes identification, Planning, Implementation, Evaluation: a memory aid for the steps of the nursing process.

A legal document in which a person states their wishes for medical care, for a time when they cannot speak for themselves.

A registered nurse with a graduate degree and advanced training who can diagnose and treat health problems.

Harm to a client that results from medical care rather than from the client's illness.

To speak up and act for a client's rights, safety and wishes; also, a person who does this.

Latin for "the patient first," the motto of the Association of Surgical Technologists.

In mental health, the outward expression of a person's emotions, as seen in the face, voice and body language.

Leaving a hospital or refusing care when the health care team advises staying or continuing treatment.

A state of restlessness and tension with too much movement, often with irritability.

Acknowledge, Introduce, Duration, Explanation, Thank you: a memory aid for how to greet and inform a client.

A hand sanitizer of 60 to 95 percent alcohol rubbed over the hands until dry, in place of washing when hands are not visibly dirty.

A worldwide, free self-help group in which people with drinking problems support each other to stop drinking.

A recovery score rating five things from 0 to 2 (activity, breathing, circulation, consciousness, oxygen saturation) to judge readiness to leave the PACU.

The professional organization of surgeons that sets standards for surgical care; it sponsors ARC/STSA with AST and verifies trauma centers.

A US nonprofit group that funds heart and stroke research and publishes guidelines, including for CPR.

The professional organization for registered nurses in the United States.

To study information closely, piece by piece, to understand what it means.

The second step of the NCSBN Clinical Judgment Measurement Model: linking the client's findings to what they could mean.

The licensed professional who gives anesthesia and watches over the client's breathing and vital functions during a procedure.

Teaching that prepares a person or family for what to expect at the next stage, before it happens.

The Association of periOperative Registered Nurses, the professional organization of OR nurses, which publishes perioperative practice guidelines.

The use of oils from plants, breathed in or put on the skin, to help a person relax or feel more comfortable.

The American Society of Anesthesiologists' grading of a patient's health before surgery, from ASA 1 (healthy) to ASA 6 (brain dead, organ donor).

Safety steps that keep food, fluid, saliva or stomach contents from going into the airway and lungs.

In law, a threat or act that makes a person afraid they are about to be touched in a harmful or unwanted way.

To gather information about a client by looking, listening, asking, measuring and examining.

To give a staff member the care of a client, or tasks that are already part of that person's usual job and allowed by their license.

A surgical technologist working on the nonsterile side of the room, helping the RN circulator during a case.

The deep emotional bond between an infant and a parent or caregiver.