Can Z values be thought of as the number of standard deviations? I read about the 68-95-99.7 rule that shows

I also read that a Z value of 1.96 gives a confidence level of 95%
Is it correct to think of Z as the "number of standard deviations" ?
Only I have never seen it mentioned that way.

Yes. A Z value of a particular data point tells you how many standard deviations it is from its mean. Z=0 means it has the same value as the population mean, Z=-1 means it is 1std lower than its mean etc. The probability that an observation will lie within the interval of its population mean plus/minus two times the standard deviation is 95%. This is the connection between z scores and confidence intervals.
