DOH Abu Dhabi Nursing Exam key terms

A five-step clinical reasoning cycle (assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, evaluation) that nurses use to organize care, set measurable goals, and revise actions based on patient response.

A clinical judgment about a patient's actual or potential health response that nurses are licensed to treat independently, distinct from a physician's medical disease diagnosis.

A written, individualized document listing prioritized problems, expected outcomes, nursing interventions, and evaluation criteria, used to guide and communicate care across shifts and settings.

The final phase of the nursing process in which the nurse compares actual patient status against the stated goals and decides whether to continue, modify, or discontinue the plan.

A patient's voluntary agreement to a procedure after receiving understandable information about its purpose, risks, benefits, and alternatives, given without coercion and by a person with decision-making capacity.

The ethical principle that competent patients have the right to make their own healthcare decisions, including the right to refuse treatment, even when clinicians disagree with the choice.

The professional nursing duty to protect and promote a patient's rights, safety, and preferences, speaking up when care, consent, or dignity is compromised.

The ethical obligation to act in ways that benefit the patient, balancing potential good against harm and choosing actions that promote wellbeing.

The ethical duty to avoid causing harm, including preventing foreseeable injury from interventions, omissions, or unsafe practice.

The duty to protect patient health information from unauthorized disclosure, sharing it only with those directly involved in care or as permitted by law and policy.

A legal document written while a patient has capacity that states future treatment preferences or names a substitute decision-maker for times when the patient cannot speak for themselves.

The legally defined set of activities, responsibilities, and limits a nurse may perform at a given licensure or competency level, as set by regulation and employer policy.

Transferring authority to perform a specific task to another competent person while the delegating nurse retains responsibility for the decision, supervision, and outcome.

Being answerable for one's own nursing judgments, actions, and omissions, including reporting errors and practicing only within one's competence.

The Abu Dhabi Department of Health process by which nurses demonstrate credentials, competency, and good standing to be granted a licence to practice in the emirate.

Ongoing learning activities and credited education hours that nurses complete to maintain competence and renew their professional licence.

The six linked elements needed for infection to spread: infectious agent, reservoir, portal of exit, mode of transmission, portal of entry, and susceptible host. Breaking any link prevents transmission.

Minimum infection-control practices applied to every patient regardless of diagnosis, including hand hygiene, gloves, gowns, masks, sharps safety, and safe waste handling.

Cleaning hands with soap and water or alcohol-based rub at the WHO's defined moments, the single most effective measure for preventing healthcare-associated infection.

Barriers such as gloves, gowns, masks, respirators, and eye protection worn to prevent contact with blood, body fluids, and airborne or droplet pathogens.

Extra precautions (contact, droplet, airborne) used in addition to standard precautions for patients with known or suspected pathogens spread by those routes.

An infection a patient acquires during care in a health facility that was not present or incubating on admission, often linked to devices, surgery, or breaches in infection control.

An incident or near miss that could have caused or did cause unintended harm to a patient, which must be reported through the facility's safety reporting system.

A structured team method for investigating a serious safety event to identify underlying system failures and design changes that prevent recurrence, rather than blaming individuals.

A measurable marker, such as fall rate or catheter-associated infection rate, used to monitor, compare, and improve the quality and safety of care over time.

Clinical decision-making that integrates the best available research evidence, nursing expertise, and patient values and preferences to guide care.

The verified checks before giving a drug: right patient, medication, dose, route, time, documentation, reason, and the patient's right to refuse.

A drug that carries a heightened risk of significant harm when used in error, requiring extra safeguards such as independent double-checks, standardized concentrations, and clear labeling.

A formal process of comparing a patient's complete medication list at transitions of care to identify omissions, duplications, or interactions and prevent medication errors.

The ratio between a drug's toxic dose and its effective dose; a narrow index means small dose changes can cause toxicity, so blood levels are monitored closely.

An unintended, harmful response to a medicine at normal doses, ranging from rash to organ damage, which must be documented, managed, and reported.

Rapid sorting of patients by urgency of condition so that limited emergency resources are directed first to those who need immediate life-saving care.

A prioritized emergency assessment of Airway, Breathing, Circulation, Disability, and Exposure used to detect and correct life threats in a deteriorating patient.

Activation of a trained team when a patient shows early warning signs of deterioration, aiming to intervene before cardiac arrest or intensive care admission.

A life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated body response to infection, requiring prompt recognition, cultures, antibiotics, and fluid resuscitation.

Tracking intake and output, daily weights, and clinical signs to confirm that a patient's fluid volume is adequate and neither depleted nor overloaded.

A scored assessment of eye opening, verbal response, and motor response used to quantify level of consciousness and detect neurological deterioration.

A pregnancy disorder marked by new hypertension and proteinuria or organ dysfunction after 20 weeks, threatening mother and fetus and requiring close monitoring and timely delivery.

Observation of fetal heart rate patterns and uterine activity to detect distress and guide timely obstetric intervention.

Excessive bleeding after childbirth, commonly defined as over 500 mL after vaginal birth or 1000 mL after caesarean, and a leading cause of maternal death requiring urgent action.

A quick 0-10 rating of a newborn's heart rate, breathing, muscle tone, reflexes, and colour at one and five minutes after birth to guide resuscitation.

A bedside scoring tool combining vital signs and behaviour to flag hospitalized children at risk of deterioration and trigger escalation.

Purposeful use of active listening, open questions, empathy, and reflection to build trust and help patients express thoughts and feelings.

A structured observation of appearance, behaviour, mood, thought process and content, cognition, insight, and judgment used to describe a patient's psychiatric state.

A systematic inquiry into suicidal thoughts, plans, means, intent, and protective factors that determines the level of observation and safety measures needed.

Community health action taken before disease occurs, such as immunization, health education, and safe water, to reduce the incidence of illness.

Testing apparently healthy people to detect disease at an early, more treatable stage, such as blood pressure or cervical screening programmes.

Enabling people to increase control over and improve their health through education, supportive environments, and healthy public policy.

A disease that law or regulation requires clinicians to report to public health authorities so outbreaks can be detected and controlled.