Abbreviations

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

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

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

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

The National Board of Surgical Technology and Surgical Assisting, which awards and renews the CST and CSFA credentials.

The National Center for Competency Testing, a certifying agency that awards the TS-C credential to surgical technologists.

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

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

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

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

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

A neodymium: yttrium aluminum garnet crystal laser with an invisible 1064 nm beam that reaches deepest and coagulates best of the surgical lasers.

The National Fire Protection Association, which writes fire safety codes and standards, health care included.

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

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

National Incident Management System, the US system that sets one structure and one set of terms for responding to emergencies.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the US agency that researches work-related injury and illness and how to prevent them.

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

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

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

Nothing by mouth: an order that a client must not eat or drink anything.

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

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