Glossary
Certified Nursing Assistant Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential certified nursing assistant terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key certified nursing assistant vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in certified nursing assistant training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- ADLs
- Activities of daily living: bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, transferring and continence.
- Ambulate
- To walk, or to help a patient walk.
- Aspiration
- Food or fluid entering the airway, a choking and pneumonia risk.
- Fowler’s position
- Sitting position with the head of the bed raised 45–60 degrees.
- Gait belt
- A canvas belt worn around a patient’s waist to give the caregiver a secure grip during transfers and walking.
- Incontinence
- Inability to control urine or bowel movements.
- Intake and output (I&O)
- Measuring all fluids a patient takes in and puts out.
- Mechanical lift
- Equipment used to move patients who cannot bear weight, operated by two staff.
- NPO
- Nothing by mouth: no food or drink.
- Nurse aide registry
- A state list of people who have met CNA training and testing requirements.
- Pressure injury
- Damage to skin and tissue from prolonged pressure, often over bony areas; also called a bedsore.
- Range of motion (ROM)
- Exercises that move joints through their full movement to prevent stiffness.
- Resident rights
- Legal rights of nursing home residents, including dignity, privacy and the right to refuse care.
- Standard precautions
- Infection-control practices used with every patient, such as hand hygiene and gloves.
- Supine
- Lying flat on the back.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Certified Nursing Assistant practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Certified Nursing Assistant training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.