CN
Abbreviation with 6 meanings
| Stands for | Charge nurse |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 6 |
| Categories | Medical, Geography & Places, Transportation & Travel, Science & Engineering, Military |
| Also written | Cn |
CN has six meanings. The most common are Charge nurse (hospital) and Cranial nerve (anatomy); it can also stand for China, Canadian National Railway, Copernicium and Constructionman.
Meanings of CN at a glance
| # | CN stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charge nurse | Medical › Hospital |
| 2 | Cranial nerve | Medical › Anatomy |
| 3 | China | Geography & Places › Country Code |
| 4 | Canadian National Railway | Transportation & Travel › Rail and Transit |
| 5 | Copernicium | Science & Engineering › Chemical Element |
| 6 | Constructionman | Military › US Navy and Coast Guard Rank |
1. Charge nurse
Medical · Hospital Abbreviations
Registered nurse who coordinates a unit during a shift: making assignments, managing admissions and discharges, troubleshooting problems and supporting staff, often while carrying a smaller patient load.
Example: CN notified of new admission from ED, assigned to bed 14.
Charge nurses are first responders to staffing and patient-flow problems and often attend rapid responses. Many hospitals require several years of experience and charge training. In chemistry CN is the cyanide group, and in neurology CN refers to cranial nerves.
2. Cranial nerve
Medical · Anatomy Abbreviations
Any of the twelve pairs of nerves arising directly from the brain and brainstem rather than the spinal cord, numbered I to XII with Roman numerals. They control smell, vision, eye movement, facial sensation and expression, hearing and balance, swallowing, voice, and movement of the tongue and shoulders.
Example: CN II-XII grossly intact; no facial asymmetry.
The twelve are olfactory, optic, oculomotor, trochlear, trigeminal, abducens, facial, vestibulocochlear, glossopharyngeal, vagus, accessory and hypoglossal. Bell palsy affects CN VII, and a CN III palsy with a dilated pupil can signal an expanding aneurysm. The vagus nerve (CN X) travels farthest, reaching the abdomen.
3. China
Geography & Places · Country Code Abbreviations
China's code (for the People's Republic of China) underlies the .cn domain, which requires real-name registration, and the renminbi codes CNY onshore and CNH offshore. Beijing is the capital and CHN the alpha-3 code.
Example: Electronics labeled Made in CN are routed through the import inspection queue.
The language code for Chinese is zh, from Zhongwen, so locale tags read zh-CN for simplified Chinese as used in mainland China. Hong Kong (HK), Macao (MO) and Taiwan (TW) have separate codes.
4. Canadian National Railway
Transportation & Travel · Rail and Transit Abbreviations
Canada's largest railway, headquartered in Montreal, running from the Atlantic to the Pacific and south through the US Midwest to the Gulf of Mexico. CN carries grain, intermodal containers, energy products and forest goods.
Example: CN says the bridge washout has cut its main line to the port of Vancouver for at least three days.
Created by the Canadian government in 1919 from several bankrupt railways and privatized in 1995. Its 1998 purchase of the Illinois Central gave it a route to New Orleans. CN Tower in Toronto was built by the railway and named for it.
5. Copernicium (Cn)
Science & Engineering · Chemical Element Abbreviations
Copernicium (atomic number 112) sits below mercury in group 12, and relativistic effects on its electrons are predicted to make it unusually volatile. Single-atom experiments in 2007 found it to be a highly volatile metal that adsorbs on gold, consistent with a heavier relative of mercury.
Example: Element 112 was officially named Cn on February 19, 2010, the 537th anniversary of Copernicus's birth.
First synthesized at GSI Darmstadt in February 1996 by fusing lead and zinc nuclei, it was named after the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus. The discoverers initially proposed the symbol Cp, but it was changed to Cn because Cp had once denoted cassiopeium, an old name for lutetium. Its systematic placeholder name had been ununbium (Uub).
6. Constructionman
Military · US Navy and Coast Guard Rank Abbreviations
Navy E-3 rank for apprentices in the construction group, the junior Seabees who train toward ratings such as builder, equipment operator, steelworker and utilitiesman. They wear three light blue diagonal stripes.
Example: CN Walker joined Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 133 after Seabee "A" school.
The lower grades are Constructionman Apprentice (CA) and Constructionman Recruit (CR). Seabee units take their name from the initials CB, for construction battalion. Constructionmen typically train at Gulfport, Mississippi, or Port Hueneme, California, the Seabee homeports.
Related abbreviations
More hospital abbreviations
- CHC – Community health center
- CLABSI – Central line-associated bloodstream infection
- CM – Case management
- CMO – Chief medical officer
- CNO – Chief nursing officer
- CTICU – Cardiothoracic intensive care unit
- CVICU – Cardiovascular intensive care unit
- DNV – DNV Healthcare
See all 89 hospital abbreviations →
More anatomy abbreviations
- C7 – Seventh cervical vertebra (vertebra prominens)
- CBD – Common bile duct
- CFA – Common femoral artery
- CMC – Carpometacarpal (joint)
- CNS – Central nervous system
- CVA – Costovertebral angle
- DIP – Distal interphalangeal (joint)
- DP – Dorsalis pedis (artery or pulse)
See all 70 anatomy abbreviations →
This entry is for general education and is not medical advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.