You can't eliminate an NC that hasn't happened. Nonconformity = Non-fulfillment of a requirement (ISO 9000:2005). If there is no requirement, there is no NC. If there is a weakness in the system that has the potential to allow an NC to occur, the weakness should be addressed, but I don't like the idea of hanging negative descriptors on positive audit results. Identification of holes in the system is how improvement happens.
You can eliminate a NC situation, the adverse effect of which has not yet happened.
With no disagreement with the NC definition, the bigger thing that an internal audit must see is how requirements are determined, and then how they are met, and how are they effective.
Internal audit must identify holes in the system, tag it as NC and drive CA.
If there is a weakness in the system that has the potential to allow an NC to occur, the weakness should be addressed,
I am calling this as a NC to be effectively addressed
Example:
People who are familiar with Epoxy use know that epoxy process requires validation. They also know that higher temperature of cure reduces the curing time. This combination effectively comes from good validation.
People who are familiar with engineering plastics know about Glass transition temperature and the effects on plastic parts when the temperature nears or reaches this temperature range.
When you audit validation process, you look at both these and assess how the epoxy curing process has been validated, when the part / assembly under validation process also has some engineering plastic parts, that may or may not be directly contacting the epoxy, but are subjected to curing temperatures.
The process may not have been yet put to practice, a NC part / assembly may not have been noticed yet. However in your audit you notice that the selected curing temperature is into the glass transition temperature of any of the engineering parts associated in the curing, one is tempted to call it observation.
I would prefer calling it NC, so that a good CA will avoid such further situations.