ABSTRACT Objective: to build a specialized terminology for the clinical nursing practice for people with COVID-19, based on the Seven Axis Model of the International Classification for Nursing Practice. Methods: a descriptive and documentary study, carried out in April 2020. The terms were extracted from official documents of the Ministry of Health. The data were treated through terminological analysis, that is, the terms were organized through a classification system, which, in this research, was represented by the Seven Axis Model, version 2019. Also in the delimitation of the thematic field of the terminological analysis, the method of cross-mapping was chosen so that the terms resulting from the normalization process, derived from the literature, were cross-referenced with the terms of the International Classification for Nursing Practice in its seven axes. Results: after the normalization process, 472 useful terms were found. These were submitted to cross-mapping, totaling 263 constant terms and 211 non-constant terms. Conclusion: the study allowed identifying terms in the literature, which can be used by nurses in the care of people affected by COVID-19 and will support the stages following the construction of a terminological subset for information and communication to the Nursing practice.