NNC NLEN BSc key terms

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

A clinical judgement about a patient's actual or potential health response that nurses can legally and independently treat, formulated in NANDA-I style with defining characteristics and related factors.

A written, individualised document linking assessed problems to expected outcomes and specific nursing interventions, with a timeframe and criteria for judging success.

The final phase in which the nurse compares observed outcomes with the planned goals, then decides whether to continue, modify, or discontinue interventions and document the conclusion.

Observable, measurable findings obtained through examination or records, such as blood pressure, wound appearance, or laboratory values, rather than what the patient reports feeling.

Information the patient or family reports verbally, including pain ratings, nausea, dizziness, and health history, which cannot be directly verified by the nurse's senses.

A targeted examination limited to a specific body system or problem, performed on admission, when a complication is suspected, or at the start of each shift.

A patient's voluntary agreement to a procedure after receiving and understanding information about its purpose, risks, benefits, and alternatives, documented before the intervention begins.

Acting to protect and promote a patient's rights, preferences, and safety, including speaking up when care, staffing, or decisions conflict with the patient's stated wishes.

Being answerable for one's own nursing actions and omissions, including the duty to practise within scope, report errors honestly, and accept consequences of decisions.

Transferring authority to perform a specific task to a competent person while the delegating nurse retains responsibility for assessing the patient, giving clear directions, and supervising outcomes.

The legally defined activities a nurse may perform at a given registration level, shaped by statute, employer policy, education, and demonstrated competence.

The ethical and legal duty to protect patient information from unauthorised disclosure, sharing it only with those involved in care or as required by law.

The body's ability to maintain internal stability, such as temperature, pH, and glucose, through negative and positive feedback mechanisms that counteract deviation from a set point.

A control mechanism in which a change in a variable triggers a response that reverses the change, restoring the value toward its normal range, as in thermoregulation and blood pressure control.

A rapid, all-or-none electrical change across a cell membrane caused by ion channel opening and depolarisation, which propagates signals along neurons and triggers muscle contraction.

The volume of blood the heart ejects per minute, calculated as heart rate multiplied by stroke volume, and a key determinant of tissue oxygen delivery.

The degree of ventricular stretch at the end of diastole, determined mainly by venous return and blood volume, which influences the force of the next contraction.

The average pressure driving blood through the systemic circulation during the cardiac cycle, roughly one-third of pulse pressure plus diastolic pressure, and a marker of organ perfusion.

Excess fluid accumulation in interstitial tissue, produced by raised capillary hydrostatic pressure, low plasma oncotic pressure, lymphatic obstruction, or increased capillary permeability.

How the body handles a drug across absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion, determining the onset, intensity, and duration of the drug's effect.

The time required for the plasma concentration of a drug to fall by half, used to estimate dosing intervals and the time needed to reach steady state.

Metabolism of an orally administered drug in the intestinal wall and liver before it reaches systemic circulation, which reduces bioavailability and may require a higher oral dose.

The fraction of an administered dose that reaches systemic circulation unchanged, equal to 100 percent for intravenous dosing and lower for other routes.

The condition in which drug intake equals elimination, so plasma concentration stays relatively constant; usually reached after about four to five half-lives of regular dosing.

The ratio between a drug's toxic dose and its effective dose; a narrow index means small dose changes can cause toxicity and warrants therapeutic drug monitoring.

A drug class carrying heightened risk of serious harm when used in error, such as insulin, anticoagulants, opioids, and concentrated electrolytes, requiring independent double checks and standard safeguards.

A structured process of obtaining and comparing a patient's complete medication list at admission, transfer, and discharge to identify omissions, duplications, and interactions.

The concurrent use of multiple medicines, often five or more, which raises the risk of interactions, adverse effects, and non-adherence, particularly in older adults.

Life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection, recognised by signs such as altered mentation, raised respiratory rate, and hypotension requiring urgent treatment.

A state of inadequate tissue perfusion causing cellular hypoxia and organ dysfunction, classified by cause as hypovolaemic, cardiogenic, distributive, or obstructive.

A pregnancy-specific disorder of new hypertension after 20 weeks' gestation with proteinuria or maternal organ dysfunction, carrying risks of seizure, placental abruption, and fetal growth restriction.

The age of a fetus measured from the first day of the last menstrual period, usually expressed in completed weeks and used to classify preterm, term, and post-term birth.

A rapid 0-10 assessment at one and five minutes after birth scoring heart rate, respiratory effort, muscle tone, reflex irritability, and colour to guide newborn resuscitation.

A membranous gap between an infant's skull bones, the anterior one closing by about 18 months, whose bulging or sunken state signals raised or reduced intracranial pressure or hydration.

Purposeful verbal and non-verbal interaction using active listening, open questions, reflection, and silence to help a patient express feelings and clarify concerns.

A structured assessment of appearance, behaviour, mood, affect, thought form and content, perception, cognition, insight, and judgement, used to describe psychiatric presentation.

Indirect protection of unvaccinated people that arises when a sufficient proportion of a population is immune, slowing transmission and shielding those who cannot be immunised.

The number of new cases of a condition arising in a defined population during a specified period, expressed as a rate and used to measure risk of developing disease.

The total number of existing cases of a condition in a population at a given time, reflecting both new and longstanding cases and useful for planning service demand.

Testing apparently healthy people to detect disease at an early, treatable stage, judged worthwhile when the condition is common, serious, and has an acceptable test and effective treatment.

Clinical decision-making that integrates the best available research, the nurse's expertise, and patient values and preferences, rather than relying on tradition or habit.

A rigorous synthesis that uses a pre-specified protocol to search, appraise, and combine all relevant studies on a focused question, often with meta-analysis of pooled results.

An experiment in which participants are randomly assigned to intervention or control groups, reducing selection bias and providing the strongest single-study evidence of causal effect.