Registered Nurse (NNLE) key terms

The statutory body established under the Nepal Nursing Council Act that registers nurses, sets minimum standards for nursing education, and takes disciplinary action against registered practitioners in Nepal.

The document issued by the Nepal Nursing Council confirming that a person has met the required education and examination standards and is legally permitted to practise nursing in Nepal.

The periodic process by which a registered nurse updates registration with the council, usually after completing continuing education or paying the prescribed fee, so the licence stays valid.

A time-limited registration granted to a nurse who has qualified elsewhere or is awaiting full registration, allowing supervised practice within a defined period and setting.

A nurse who completed nursing education outside Nepal and must have qualifications verified and may need to sit an examination or complete adaptation before being registered to practise in Nepal.

The status of a nurse whose registration has expired because renewal was not completed on time, making continued practice unlawful until the registration is restored.

Providing nursing care without a valid registration or licence from the nursing council, which is an offence and may lead to legal penalties and denial of future registration.

Structured learning activities that registered nurses complete after initial qualification to maintain competence, update knowledge and fulfil renewal requirements set by the council.

The range of roles, responsibilities and clinical activities that a nurse is educated, authorised and competent to perform within the legal and professional boundaries of nursing in Nepal.

The level of care a reasonably competent nurse with similar training would provide in comparable circumstances, used as the benchmark when judging professional conduct and negligence.

The legal and ethical obligation of a nurse to act in the patient's best interest, avoid foreseeable harm and provide care that meets accepted professional standards.

Failure to provide the standard of care that a reasonably competent nurse would give, resulting in harm, where a duty of care existed and the breach caused the injury.

A patient's voluntary agreement to a procedure after receiving and understanding information about its purpose, risks, benefits and alternatives, given without coercion and by someone with capacity.

The ethical principle that patients have the right to make decisions about their own care, including the right to refuse treatment, based on their own values and preferences.

The ethical principle of acting to promote the patient's welfare and well-being, requiring nurses to balance potential benefits against risks when planning and delivering care.

The ethical duty to avoid causing harm to patients, often expressed as 'first, do no harm', and applied when weighing interventions that carry risk against expected benefit.

The ethical principle of fair and equitable distribution of health resources and treatment, ensuring patients are not discriminated against on grounds such as caste, gender, ethnicity or income.

The professional obligation to keep patient information private and share it only with those directly involved in care or where law requires disclosure, protecting trust in the nurse-patient relationship.

The nurse's role in speaking up for patients' rights, preferences and safety, especially when patients cannot represent themselves or when care decisions conflict with their interests.

A formal set of professional values and conduct expectations adopted by the nursing council that guides nurses' decisions and behaviour towards patients, colleagues and the public.

Behaviour by a registered nurse that breaches professional standards or ethics, such as practising while impaired, falsifying records or abandoning patients, and which may attract disciplinary action.

The body within the nursing council that investigates complaints against registered nurses and may warn, suspend or remove a nurse from the register for proven misconduct.

The transfer of a specific nursing task to another health worker or assistant while the registered nurse retains responsibility for assessing competence, supervising and evaluating the outcome.

Being answerable for one's own nursing actions, decisions and omissions, including reporting errors honestly and accepting the consequences set by professional and legal standards.

The combination of knowledge, skills, judgement and attitudes a nurse needs to perform a given task safely and effectively in the actual practice setting.

The documented account of a patient's assessment, care, treatment and progress, which is a legal and confidential document and must be accurate, timely and complete.

The formal process of documenting adverse events, near misses or unsafe conditions such as falls or medication errors so that causes can be analysed and patient safety improved.

Any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm, including wrong drug, dose, route, time or patient during prescribing, dispensing or administration.

A safety checklist requiring the nurse to confirm the right patient, right drug, right dose, right route and right time before administering any medicine.

The practice of confirming a patient's identity using at least two identifiers, such as name and hospital number, before procedures, medication and blood transfusion to prevent wrong-patient errors.

The prevention of avoidable harm during health care through systems, teamwork and practices such as hand hygiene, safe medication use and clear communication between clinicians.

The set of evidence-based practices, including hand hygiene, asepsis and safe waste disposal, used to stop the transmission of infections among patients, staff and visitors in health facilities.

Basic infection-control measures applied to every patient regardless of diagnosis, including hand hygiene, gloves, masks, eye protection and safe handling of sharps and body fluids.

The safe segregation, colour-coded collection, storage, transport and disposal of health-care waste such as sharps, infectious material and expired medicines to protect people and the environment.

Measures that protect health workers from workplace hazards, including needle-stick injury prevention, safe staffing, ergonomics and reporting of exposure incidents such as blood contact.

A written statement made in advance by a person with capacity expressing preferences about future medical treatment, to be used if they later lose the ability to decide.

The process of transferring a patient to another clinician or higher-level facility for care beyond the current setting's capacity, with proper documentation and communication between providers.

Essential, accessible and community-based health services delivered close to where people live, forming the first level of contact with the health system and a key setting for nursing practice in Nepal.

A peripheral government health facility in Nepal staffed mainly by auxiliary nurse midwives and other basic health workers, serving as the first contact point for rural communities.

A trained community woman in Nepal who provides basic health education and services such as family planning and referral support, working closely with local health facility nurses.