General Nursing Terms
Blood pressure (BP)
Blood pressure measures the amount of force placed on a patient’s artery walls with each heartbeat. This is one of the standard vital signs nurses monitor for patients.
Cardiac nursing
A nursing specialty centered around the cardiovascular system (the heart and blood circulation system).
NICU
Neonatal intensive care unit, where critically ill newborns are cared for.
CT Scan
An imaging procedure that uses X-rays and computer technology to produce highly detailed images.
Catheter
Any flexible, hollow tube used in medical procedures; most often refers to a tube used to drain urine from the bladder.
Charting
The process of adding to a patient’s chart to keep it up to date and accurate. Nurses often use medical acronyms and abbreviations in their chartings.
Home health nursing
Nurses who visit patients in their own homes to provide care.
ICU
Intensive Care Unit
Ultra Sound
An imaging procedure that uses high-frequency sound waves.
Stethoscope
An audio device that allows nurses to hear a patient’s pulse or take their blood pressure.
Code blue
A medical emergency, often cardiac arrest, that requires immediate attention from a team of healthcare providers. Healthcare workers may shorten code blue to “coding.”
ICU Nurses
Nurses who work in the intensive care unit (ICU), typically caring for just one or two patients with severe injuries or ailments at a time.
ABC
This is the simple way to remember “airway, breathing, circulation,” which is the order in which nurses assess and prioritize a patient who is unresponsive or unconscious.
A minor medical procedure that reduces the risk of contracting and spreading contagious illnesses.
Tourniquet
A tight band used to control bleeding after an injury, surgery or other medical procedure.
Respiratory rate
The number of breaths a patient takes per minute.
Dialysis nursing
A nursing specialty that focuses on patients who have kidney disease, are experiencing kidney failure or are undergoing dialysis treatments.
SOP
Standard operating procedures, which describe how nursing tasks are to be performed and the outcome that should be achieved.
Basic metabolic panel
Sometimes shortened to BMP, this refers to a routine blood test that measures basic body functions, like kidney effectiveness and sugar levels.
Sharps container
A hard plastic container used as a trash receptacle for any type of biomedical waste—anything that’s been used to puncture human skin—such as needles or IV catheters.
Specimen
A sample of something from a patient’s body, such as urine, blood, skin or other tissue, that is taken for testing and analysis.
Nursing informatics
Nursing informatics who combine practical nursing skills with data analysis and technology to improve patient safety.
CBR
Seeing this on a patient’s chart means “complete bed rest” and refers to a patient who is not allowed out of bed at all, even to use the bathroom.
Saline lock
A medical procedure in which an IV catheter is placed in a patient’s vein, then flushed with saline solution and “locked” without additional fluids or medications. Saline locks make it easy for nurses to quickly administer IV medications during a patient’s hospital stay.
Pulse oximeter
A small device that clips to a patient’s finger or toe to measure the amount of oxygen in their blood. Nurses can often use a pulse oximeter to determine which patients need to take priority in an emergency department setting.