Nursing practice

Unkind and not caring about other people's feelings; less often, hardened and thickened.

Death by the irreversible loss of heart and lung function, so the heartbeat and breathing stop for good.

A physician who specializes in diseases of the heart and blood vessels.

A person who looks after someone who needs help, such as a family member, friend or paid helper.

The coordination of a client's care and services across settings and providers by one assigned professional.

A certification for critical care nurses, awarded by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

Coronary care unit (also cardiac or critical care unit): a hospital unit for clients with serious heart problems who need close monitoring.

The United States government agency that studies disease and sets national guidance on preventing and controlling it.

A credential from a professional organization showing that a person has met the standards for a specialty.

A stopping or ending, as in quitting smoking.

The order of authority in an organization: who reports to whom, from staff up through managers to leaders.

The written record of every person who handled a piece of evidence or a specimen, in order, with the time of each handoff.

A step of closed-loop communication in which the receiver of a message confirms it back to the sender.

An accidental release of a hazardous chemical, such as a disinfectant or formalin, handled by its safety data sheet and facility policy.

The main reason a person is seeking care, told in their own words.

A health problem that lasts a long time, usually a year or more, and needs ongoing care or limits daily life.

A health condition that lasts a long time, usually a year or more, and is managed rather than cured.

A long-lasting health condition, usually of three months or more, that can be managed but often not cured.

The body's roughly 24-hour cycle of changes in sleep and waking, body temperature, appetite and hormone release.

Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment for Alcohol: a scoring tool nurses use to rate how severe a client's alcohol withdrawal is.

The person receiving nursing care; the word the NCLEX uses instead of patient.

Teaching a client, and often the family, what they need to know and do to manage their health.

The way a nurse notices, makes sense of and acts on information about a client to decide on the best care.

A set of recommendations for care of a particular condition, written by experts after reviewing the research.

The thinking process a nurse uses to gather and make sense of client information, decide what is going on and choose what to do.

A question that can be answered with "yes," "no" or a short fact.

A way of passing a spoken message in which the receiver repeats it back, the sender confirms it, and the receiver reports when it is done.

An abbreviation for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the US agency that runs Medicare, or for a circulation, motor and sensation check.

Certified Nurse Educator: a credential for nursing faculty, awarded by the National League for Nursing.

Certified nurse-midwife: an advanced practice registered nurse trained to care for people through pregnancy, birth and beyond.

A hospital emergency call that brings the resuscitation team to a person whose heart or breathing has stopped.

A written set of moral principles and duties that guides the conduct of members of a profession.

The American Nurses Association's written statement of the ethical duties and values every nurse is expected to uphold.

A client's documented wishes for resuscitation if the heart or breathing stops.

Pressuring or forcing someone to act against their will by using threats or force.

A talk therapy that helps a person notice unhelpful thoughts and change the thoughts and actions that keep a problem going.

Trouble with thinking, memory, learning, attention or making decisions that is more than expected for the person's age.

To gather information about a client by asking, observing and measuring.

Care that aims to relieve pain and distress and give the best quality of life, rather than to cure, usually near the end of life.

Law built from earlier court decisions, in which judges apply the principles of past cases (precedents) to new ones.

The sharing of ideas, facts and feelings between people, by words, writing, gestures or body language.

Anything that keeps a message from being sent, received or understood as it was meant.

The health of the people who live in a certain area or share something in common, and the work done to improve it.

Mental health care given where people live, through local clinics and services, rather than in a hospital.

A service or program outside the hospital that helps people with health or daily needs.

Having the knowledge, skill and judgment to do something well; in law, a person's ability to make their own decisions.

A specific skill or ability that a person has been shown to perform to an expected standard.

A charting phrase meaning the client tells the nurse about a symptom or problem.

Used together with something else to complete it; in health care, a therapy used alongside standard medical treatment.

A new health problem that develops during or after an illness, procedure or treatment.