Plain-language reference

NCLEX glossary — 60 terms every nursing student should know

From NGN to ATT, CJMM to logit scoring, NLC compact to neutropenic precautions — plain-language definitions of the 60 terms that come up most in NCLEX-RN prep and on test day.

NCLEX-RN: National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses. The standardized exam every U.S. RN candidate must pass for licensure.
NCLEX-PN: National Council Licensure Examination for Practical Nurses. The LPN/LVN equivalent of the NCLEX-RN.
NCSBN: National Council of State Boards of Nursing. The body that writes and administers the NCLEX.
NGN (Next Generation NCLEX): The post-April-2023 format of the NCLEX, with new item types (case studies, bow-tie, matrix, cloze, hotspot) designed to measure clinical judgment.
CAT (Computerized Adaptive Testing): The format the NCLEX uses. Questions adapt in difficulty based on your performance. The test ends when the algorithm is 95% confident you're above or below the passing standard.
CJMM (Clinical Judgment Measurement Model): NCSBN's six-step framework for clinical judgment: recognize cues, analyze cues, prioritize hypotheses, generate solutions, take actions, evaluate outcomes.
Passing standard: The minimum logit score needed to pass the NCLEX-RN. As of April 2023, it's -0.18 logits.
Logit: The unit of measurement on the NCLEX scoring scale. Item difficulty and candidate ability are measured on the same logit scale.
Case study: An NGN item type: one patient scenario followed by six sub-questions mapped to the six CJMM steps. Each NCLEX-RN includes 3 case studies (18 items total).
Bow-tie: An NGN item with a three-zone answer: one condition in the center, two actions to take on the left, two parameters to monitor on the right.
Matrix item: An NGN item structured as a table of rows (findings or interventions) and columns (categories like 'indicated' / 'not indicated').
Cloze (drop-down): An NGN item with fill-in-the-blank using drop-down menus, often nested in a sentence like 'The nurse should administer [drug] because the client is in [condition].'
Enhanced hotspot: An NGN item where you click words or phrases in a passage that are clinically significant.
Extended drag-and-drop: An NGN item where you order items into a sequence — typically nursing actions or steps of a procedure.
Extended multiple response: The NGN evolution of SATA (select-all-that-apply). Uses partial-credit (polytomous) scoring.
Polytomous scoring: Partial-credit scoring used on most NGN items: +1 for correct selection, -1 for incorrect, 0 for none. The total floors at zero so a single item can't drop you into the negatives.
Dichotomous scoring: All-or-nothing scoring used on traditional NCLEX multiple-choice items. Either correct or incorrect, no partial credit.
ATT (Authorization to Test): The official document NCSBN issues that lets you schedule your NCLEX with Pearson VUE. Valid for 90 days.
Pearson VUE: The testing service that delivers the NCLEX at hundreds of testing centers worldwide.
Tryout questions: Approximately 15 questions on each NCLEX that are not scored. NCSBN uses them to calibrate future items. You can't tell which questions are tryout.
Client need categories: The eight content areas the NCLEX-RN test plan organizes around: Management of Care, Safety/Infection Control, Health Promotion, Psychosocial, Basic Care, Pharmacology, Reduction of Risk, Physiological Adaptation.
Test plan: NCSBN's published document detailing what the NCLEX tests, in what proportions. Updated every 3 years; current version is the 2026 NCLEX-RN Test Plan.
ADN: Associate Degree in Nursing. A two-year nursing degree that qualifies you to sit for the NCLEX-RN.
BSN: Bachelor of Science in Nursing. A four-year degree increasingly required by hospital employers, especially Magnet-designated facilities.
MSN: Master of Science in Nursing. Required for nurse practitioner, CNS, CRNA, and nursing education roles.
DNP: Doctor of Nursing Practice. The terminal practice degree for advanced practice registered nurses.
NLC (Nurse Licensure Compact): An agreement among 40+ states that lets RNs and LPNs hold a multistate license valid across all compact states.
Endorsement: The process of obtaining a license in a new state based on an existing license in another state. Required when moving between non-compact states.
Single-state license: A nursing license valid only in the issuing state. Most non-compact-state licenses.
Multistate license: An NLC-compact license valid across all compact states. Issued by your primary state of residence if it's a compact state.
Five rights of delegation: NCSBN's framework: right task, right circumstance, right person, right direction, right supervision. Tested heavily on Management of Care items.
ABC priority: Airway-Breathing-Circulation. The foundational priority framework on the NCLEX. The client whose airway, breathing, or circulation is most threatened comes first.
Maslow's hierarchy: A priority framework used when all options seem physiologic: physiologic needs > safety > love/belonging > esteem > self-actualization.
ADPIE (nursing process): Assessment → Diagnosis → Planning → Implementation → Evaluation. The nursing process. Assessment comes before intervention unless an emergency requires immediate action.
SBAR: Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation. The standardized format for handoff communication between providers.
Therapeutic communication: Communication techniques that promote client well-being: open-ended questions, reflection, silence, clarification. Tested heavily in psychiatric content.
Therapeutic drug level: The serum drug concentration that produces the intended effect without toxicity. Common NCLEX examples: digoxin 0.5–2.0 ng/mL, lithium 0.6–1.2 mEq/L, vancomycin trough 10–20 mcg/mL.
Black-box warning: The FDA's strongest drug safety alert, indicating a serious or life-threatening risk. NCLEX tests black-box warnings on warfarin, SSRIs in youth, fluoroquinolones, and metformin with contrast, among others.
Antidote: A drug that reverses the effects of another drug. NCLEX antidote pairings: heparin/protamine, warfarin/vitamin K, opioids/naloxone, benzodiazepines/flumazenil, acetaminophen/N-acetylcysteine.
Therapeutic INR: Target INR on warfarin. 2.0–3.0 for most conditions, 2.5–3.5 for mechanical heart valves.
aPTT: Activated partial thromboplastin time. Lab to monitor heparin therapy. Therapeutic 1.5–2.5× baseline, usually 60–80 seconds.
Pearson Vue trick: An unofficial method some test-takers use to guess if they passed the NCLEX before official results: attempting to re-register and seeing if the system blocks them. Not endorsed by NCSBN. Use the official Quick Results service ($7.95) for a confirmed result.
Quick Results: NCSBN's optional service ($7.95) that releases unofficial NCLEX results 48 business hours after the test. Final results come from your state board within 1–6 weeks.
Tabula rasa: Starting the NCLEX with a blank slate. The CAT algorithm has no prior data on you and begins at an estimated medium difficulty.
Run-out-of-time rule: If your NCLEX time expires before the algorithm reaches confidence, your performance on the last 60 items determines pass/fail.
Maximum-length rule: If you reach question 145 and the algorithm is still uncertain, your performance on the last 60 items is averaged against the passing standard.
Critical lab value: A lab result so abnormal it requires immediate provider notification. Examples: K+ <2.5 or >6.5, glucose <40 or >500, sodium <120 or >160, platelet <50,000.
Anticipatory grief: Grieving that occurs before a loss, common in family members of terminally ill clients. Tested in psychosocial integrity content.
Neutropenic precautions: Protective isolation for clients with absolute neutrophil count below 1,000. No fresh flowers, no raw vegetables, mask out of room, private room.
Airborne precautions: PPE for diseases spread by airborne droplet nuclei: TB, measles, varicella. Requires negative-pressure room and N95 respirator.
Droplet precautions: PPE for diseases spread by large respiratory droplets: flu, pertussis, meningitis. Requires surgical mask within 3 feet.
Contact precautions: PPE for diseases spread by direct contact or contaminated surfaces: C. diff, MRSA, VRE. Requires gown and gloves; soap-and-water hand hygiene for C. diff (alcohol does not kill spores).
Standard precautions: Universal PPE used with every client regardless of diagnosis. Includes hand hygiene, gloves when contacting body fluids, and appropriate PPE based on anticipated exposure.
Sentinel event: An unexpected event involving death or serious physical or psychological injury. Requires immediate root-cause analysis and reporting.
Never events: Serious medical errors that should never happen: wrong-site surgery, retained foreign object, fall with serious injury, stage 3+ pressure ulcer.
Root cause analysis (RCA): A structured process for identifying the underlying cause of a sentinel event so it doesn't recur. Tested in quality improvement content.
Just culture: An organizational framework that distinguishes human error from at-risk behavior from reckless behavior, balancing accountability with safety reporting.
Restraint criteria: Restraints require provider order (within 1 hour for behavioral), least-restrictive option first, monitoring every 15–30 min, and skin/circulation assessment every 2 hours.
Informed consent: The client's voluntary agreement to a procedure after the provider has explained risks, benefits, and alternatives. The nurse witnesses the signature; the provider obtains consent.
Advance directive: A legal document specifying a client's wishes about end-of-life care, including living will and durable power of attorney for health care.
DNR (Do Not Resuscitate): An order specifying no CPR or advanced cardiac life support if the client arrests. Other interventions (comfort, IV fluids, antibiotics) continue unless specified otherwise.

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Plain-language reference

NCLEX glossary — 60 terms every nursing student should know

From NGN to ATT, CJMM to logit scoring, NLC compact to neutropenic precautions — plain-language definitions of the 60 terms that come up most in NCLEX-RN prep and on test day.

NCLEX-RN: National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses. The standardized exam every U.S. RN candidate must pass for licensure.
NCLEX-PN: National Council Licensure Examination for Practical Nurses. The LPN/LVN equivalent of the NCLEX-RN.
NCSBN: National Council of State Boards of Nursing. The body that writes and administers the NCLEX.
NGN (Next Generation NCLEX): The post-April-2023 format of the NCLEX, with new item types (case studies, bow-tie, matrix, cloze, hotspot) designed to measure clinical judgment.
CAT (Computerized Adaptive Testing): The format the NCLEX uses. Questions adapt in difficulty based on your performance. The test ends when the algorithm is 95% confident you're above or below the passing standard.
CJMM (Clinical Judgment Measurement Model): NCSBN's six-step framework for clinical judgment: recognize cues, analyze cues, prioritize hypotheses, generate solutions, take actions, evaluate outcomes.
Passing standard: The minimum logit score needed to pass the NCLEX-RN. As of April 2023, it's -0.18 logits.
Logit: The unit of measurement on the NCLEX scoring scale. Item difficulty and candidate ability are measured on the same logit scale.
Case study: An NGN item type: one patient scenario followed by six sub-questions mapped to the six CJMM steps. Each NCLEX-RN includes 3 case studies (18 items total).
Bow-tie: An NGN item with a three-zone answer: one condition in the center, two actions to take on the left, two parameters to monitor on the right.
Matrix item: An NGN item structured as a table of rows (findings or interventions) and columns (categories like 'indicated' / 'not indicated').
Cloze (drop-down): An NGN item with fill-in-the-blank using drop-down menus, often nested in a sentence like 'The nurse should administer [drug] because the client is in [condition].'
Enhanced hotspot: An NGN item where you click words or phrases in a passage that are clinically significant.
Extended drag-and-drop: An NGN item where you order items into a sequence — typically nursing actions or steps of a procedure.
Extended multiple response: The NGN evolution of SATA (select-all-that-apply). Uses partial-credit (polytomous) scoring.
Polytomous scoring: Partial-credit scoring used on most NGN items: +1 for correct selection, -1 for incorrect, 0 for none. The total floors at zero so a single item can't drop you into the negatives.
Dichotomous scoring: All-or-nothing scoring used on traditional NCLEX multiple-choice items. Either correct or incorrect, no partial credit.
ATT (Authorization to Test): The official document NCSBN issues that lets you schedule your NCLEX with Pearson VUE. Valid for 90 days.
Pearson VUE: The testing service that delivers the NCLEX at hundreds of testing centers worldwide.
Tryout questions: Approximately 15 questions on each NCLEX that are not scored. NCSBN uses them to calibrate future items. You can't tell which questions are tryout.
Client need categories: The eight content areas the NCLEX-RN test plan organizes around: Management of Care, Safety/Infection Control, Health Promotion, Psychosocial, Basic Care, Pharmacology, Reduction of Risk, Physiological Adaptation.
Test plan: NCSBN's published document detailing what the NCLEX tests, in what proportions. Updated every 3 years; current version is the 2026 NCLEX-RN Test Plan.
ADN: Associate Degree in Nursing. A two-year nursing degree that qualifies you to sit for the NCLEX-RN.
BSN: Bachelor of Science in Nursing. A four-year degree increasingly required by hospital employers, especially Magnet-designated facilities.
MSN: Master of Science in Nursing. Required for nurse practitioner, CNS, CRNA, and nursing education roles.
DNP: Doctor of Nursing Practice. The terminal practice degree for advanced practice registered nurses.
NLC (Nurse Licensure Compact): An agreement among 40+ states that lets RNs and LPNs hold a multistate license valid across all compact states.
Endorsement: The process of obtaining a license in a new state based on an existing license in another state. Required when moving between non-compact states.
Single-state license: A nursing license valid only in the issuing state. Most non-compact-state licenses.
Multistate license: An NLC-compact license valid across all compact states. Issued by your primary state of residence if it's a compact state.
Five rights of delegation: NCSBN's framework: right task, right circumstance, right person, right direction, right supervision. Tested heavily on Management of Care items.
ABC priority: Airway-Breathing-Circulation. The foundational priority framework on the NCLEX. The client whose airway, breathing, or circulation is most threatened comes first.
Maslow's hierarchy: A priority framework used when all options seem physiologic: physiologic needs > safety > love/belonging > esteem > self-actualization.
ADPIE (nursing process): Assessment → Diagnosis → Planning → Implementation → Evaluation. The nursing process. Assessment comes before intervention unless an emergency requires immediate action.
SBAR: Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation. The standardized format for handoff communication between providers.
Therapeutic communication: Communication techniques that promote client well-being: open-ended questions, reflection, silence, clarification. Tested heavily in psychiatric content.
Therapeutic drug level: The serum drug concentration that produces the intended effect without toxicity. Common NCLEX examples: digoxin 0.5–2.0 ng/mL, lithium 0.6–1.2 mEq/L, vancomycin trough 10–20 mcg/mL.
Black-box warning: The FDA's strongest drug safety alert, indicating a serious or life-threatening risk. NCLEX tests black-box warnings on warfarin, SSRIs in youth, fluoroquinolones, and metformin with contrast, among others.
Antidote: A drug that reverses the effects of another drug. NCLEX antidote pairings: heparin/protamine, warfarin/vitamin K, opioids/naloxone, benzodiazepines/flumazenil, acetaminophen/N-acetylcysteine.
Therapeutic INR: Target INR on warfarin. 2.0–3.0 for most conditions, 2.5–3.5 for mechanical heart valves.
aPTT: Activated partial thromboplastin time. Lab to monitor heparin therapy. Therapeutic 1.5–2.5× baseline, usually 60–80 seconds.
Pearson Vue trick: An unofficial method some test-takers use to guess if they passed the NCLEX before official results: attempting to re-register and seeing if the system blocks them. Not endorsed by NCSBN. Use the official Quick Results service ($7.95) for a confirmed result.
Quick Results: NCSBN's optional service ($7.95) that releases unofficial NCLEX results 48 business hours after the test. Final results come from your state board within 1–6 weeks.
Tabula rasa: Starting the NCLEX with a blank slate. The CAT algorithm has no prior data on you and begins at an estimated medium difficulty.
Run-out-of-time rule: If your NCLEX time expires before the algorithm reaches confidence, your performance on the last 60 items determines pass/fail.
Maximum-length rule: If you reach question 145 and the algorithm is still uncertain, your performance on the last 60 items is averaged against the passing standard.
Critical lab value: A lab result so abnormal it requires immediate provider notification. Examples: K+ <2.5 or >6.5, glucose <40 or >500, sodium <120 or >160, platelet <50,000.
Anticipatory grief: Grieving that occurs before a loss, common in family members of terminally ill clients. Tested in psychosocial integrity content.
Neutropenic precautions: Protective isolation for clients with absolute neutrophil count below 1,000. No fresh flowers, no raw vegetables, mask out of room, private room.
Airborne precautions: PPE for diseases spread by airborne droplet nuclei: TB, measles, varicella. Requires negative-pressure room and N95 respirator.
Droplet precautions: PPE for diseases spread by large respiratory droplets: flu, pertussis, meningitis. Requires surgical mask within 3 feet.
Contact precautions: PPE for diseases spread by direct contact or contaminated surfaces: C. diff, MRSA, VRE. Requires gown and gloves; soap-and-water hand hygiene for C. diff (alcohol does not kill spores).
Standard precautions: Universal PPE used with every client regardless of diagnosis. Includes hand hygiene, gloves when contacting body fluids, and appropriate PPE based on anticipated exposure.
Sentinel event: An unexpected event involving death or serious physical or psychological injury. Requires immediate root-cause analysis and reporting.
Never events: Serious medical errors that should never happen: wrong-site surgery, retained foreign object, fall with serious injury, stage 3+ pressure ulcer.
Root cause analysis (RCA): A structured process for identifying the underlying cause of a sentinel event so it doesn't recur. Tested in quality improvement content.
Just culture: An organizational framework that distinguishes human error from at-risk behavior from reckless behavior, balancing accountability with safety reporting.
Restraint criteria: Restraints require provider order (within 1 hour for behavioral), least-restrictive option first, monitoring every 15–30 min, and skin/circulation assessment every 2 hours.
Informed consent: The client's voluntary agreement to a procedure after the provider has explained risks, benefits, and alternatives. The nurse witnesses the signature; the provider obtains consent.
Advance directive: A legal document specifying a client's wishes about end-of-life care, including living will and durable power of attorney for health care.
DNR (Do Not Resuscitate): An order specifying no CPR or advanced cardiac life support if the client arrests. Other interventions (comfort, IV fluids, antibiotics) continue unless specified otherwise.

Knowing the terms is step one. Step two is applying them in real practice questions.

Try free NCLEX practice →