Submitting terms to the international classification for nursing practice (ICNP).

The purpose of this article was to illustrate how nurses can contribute to the development and improvement of the International Classification for Nursing Practice (ICNP). It provides researchers and students with an example of how to submit terms to the ICNP Programme for review. The article provides a brief general background on the ICNP and explains the process of how to identify and develop nursing phenomena and actions. It continues to describe the method of validating new terms, reviewing the literature to support it and how to submit the term to the International Council of Nurses (ICN). Examples are provided.

ICT in nursing in Dutch hospitals.

VIZI and its successor NICTIZ (National ICT Institute for Healthcare) carried out a study to assess the status of ICT use in hospitals. The statutory obligation for the retention of care records and instructions was highlighted by the professional nursing institutions. Literature was studied to find out more about the contribution of nursing records to the care provided. Nursing records are kept in all hospitals, and keeping a good record is essential to the care. Nevertheless not much evidence was found to support the idea that the traditional way of keeping of keeping a nursing record has substantial positive effect on the care provided. It became clear however that Clinical Pathways does indeed seem to be promising as a protocol for treating patients and putting demands on registration, and to provide a clear method by which the electronic nursing record could be built up as a part of the integrated electronic patient record. By means of two questionnaires, one applied to suppliers and one applied to hospitals, the status of ICT in hospitals was addressed. It transpired that several suppliers are active in this area, but usually with general EPR systems which have little dedicated functionality for nurses. The number of nurses in hospitals who are using computers on a regular basis is on the increase. It also transpired that most of the functions that are being used by nurses are general functions such as recording demographic patient data, roster planning, etc. Finally we asked the hospitals to send us information about their own projects. Some 20 projects where submitted, 10 of which were regarded as being significant. The best application was rewarded with a prize.

Exploiting the nursing minimum data set for the Netherlands.

The purpose of this overview is to examine and illustrate the feasible options for the statistical analysis of the Nursing Minimum Data Set for the Netherlands. Distinct purposes for information use and for the presentation of information require different approaches for data collection and data analysis. Several explorative studies are discussed, illustrating their goals, data collection methods, data analysis and results. The overview ends with general recommendations for data collection and analysis of nursing minimum data sets.

Exploring the nursing minimum data set for The Netherlands using multidimensional scaling techniques.

RATIONALE: To fulfil the need for a systematic collection of nursing data that give insight in nursing care and its benefits and costs, a nursing minimum data set (NMDS) has been developed and validated for Dutch general hospitals. A NMDS provides data describing the diversity in patient populations and variability in nursing activities that can be analysed in various ways. AIM OF THE STUDY: To explore and compare the fundamental underlying dimensions describing patient problems and nursing interventions in Dutch general hospital wards. METHODS: Data of predominantly nominal and ordinal measurement level that were collected with the NMDS for The Netherlands on 15 Dutch hospital wards underwent two consecutive steps: first, they were transformed into metric data by means of RIDIT (relative to an identified distribution) analysis; secondly, they were analysed by means of multidimensional scaling. RESULTS: Multidimensional scaling techniques yielded a fairly good three-dimensional solution of the NMDS data. Hospital wards could be distinguished from each other on the basis of patient problems and nursing interventions most common on some wards but not on others. The core aspects underlying patient problems concerned dependency problems, life threatening problems and endogenous-exogenous problems, while discriminating nursing interventions were cure-care activities, internally-externally oriented activities and psychosocial-physical interventions. LIMITATIONS: Not all types of hospital wards were represented, which limits the representativeness of the results for Dutch general hospitals. Furthermore, the patient sample size over the 15 wards was relatively small. CONCLUSION: The constructs are consistent with NMDS findings in Belgium and findings from practice, which contributes to their content validity.

Using the nursing minimum data set for the Netherlands (NMDSN) to illustrate differences in patient populations and variations in nursing activities.

RATIONALE: A nursing minimum data set (NMDS) provides data that are useful to legitimate nurses' contribution to healthcare. In Belgium and the US, such NMDS are operational, other countries are developing it, among which is the Netherlands. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether the nursing minimum data set for the Netherlands (NMDSN) is suitable to describe the diversity of patient populations and the variability of nursing care. METHODOLOGY: Using the NMDSN data collection forms, patient data were collected from 15 different hospital wards. During one week, nurses manually completed the NMDSN list for every patient. The data analysis methodology from the Belgian MVG was used, including ridit analysis and graphs. RESULTS: The NMDSN includes items related to hospital, patient demographics, medical condition, nursing process, nursing phenomena, nursing interventions, outcomes of nursing care, and complexity of care. There were 686 individual patients in the study, while for the data analysis their 2090 patient days in the hospital were used. Frequencies of nursing phenomena, nursing activities and results of care were calculated, transformed into ridit scores, and presented graphically as 'fingerprints'. CONCLUSION: The set of NMDSN items allows illustrating the diversity of patient populations, and variation in nursing care by means of 'fingerprints'.

Development of the Nursing Minimum Data Set for the Netherlands (NMDSN): identification of categories and items.

Development of the Nursing Minimum Data Set for the Netherlands (NMDSN): identification of categories and items Rationale Currently, there is no systematic collection of nursing care data in the Netherlands, while pressure is growing from the profession, policy-makers and society to justify the contribution of nursing and its costs. A nursing minimum data set can provide data to demonstrate nursing's contribution to health care as it can be used to describe the diversity of different patient populations and the variability of nursing activities, and to calculate the associated nursing workload. Objective To identify categories and items for inclusion in the Nursing Minimum Data Set for the Netherlands. Design A multimethod, exploratory approach was used. This included interviews, document analysis, consensus rounds, seeking validation in the literature, and drawing up lists of most frequently occurring patient problems, interventions and outcomes of care. Eight hospitals, with a total of 16 wards, participated in the study. Results Relevant categories and items emerged after analysis and grouping of the material and included: five hospital-related items, six patient demographics items, seven medical condition items, 10 nursing process items, 24 patient problems, 32 nursing interventions, four outcomes of nursing care, and three complexity of care items. Almost every item could be located in the existing documentation systems, the lists of patient problems, outcomes and interventions, or in the literature. Conclusion A set of categories and items of nursing data has been identified. The content validity of this set is partly supported by its consistency with the literature, findings from practice and the judgement of potential users. Nursing outcomes need further development. The data set will be tested in practice to find out whether the categories and items are useful, and whether they can be minimized.

An international health and nursing informatics module for distance education.

This paper describes why a module about health and nursing informatics is a necessary component for nursing education. Several developments in society and health care force health providers to manage the large amount of health data adequately. A module about health and nursing informatics was developed in international cooperation by three schools of nursing from Germany, The Netherlands and the UK. The content and learning activities of the realized example module for distance learning are described. Future plans include making this course material available in different languages on the World Wide Web.

A comparison of nursing minimal data sets.

It is often argued that Nursing Minimal Data Sets (NMDSs) have advantages for the nursing profession. The NMDSs that have been developed and applied in some countries have many features in common, but there are differences in purpose, content, sampling, collection approach, and developmental stage as well. This paper examines the advantages and disadvantages of data sets of nursing practice, and the differences and similarities of five national and international NMDS systems. The purpose is to apply this information toward an NMDS initiative in the Netherlands. Future initiatives in NMDS development should include international coordination.

Nursing informatics education for advanced nursing practice.

This paper describes how nursing informatics content will be integrated into the education of Advanced Nursing Practitioners at Masters level. Changes in health care, especially the need to deliver evidence based nursing care and the growing amount of health data, information and knowledge, require well educated Advanced Nurse Practitioners to lead the nursing profession. The nursing informatics content for this level of nursing education is described and compared with national and international curriculum guidelines, including Nightingale work.

Criteria for nursing information systems as a component of the electronic patient record. An international Delphi study.

In many countries nurses lack an adequate tool to assist in determining the essentials of an information policy in health care institutions and to outline the nursing component of the electronic patient record. In the United States criteria exist for systems that support the nursing process and for the electronic patient record, and the United Kingdom has the disposal of an Information Management and Technology Strategy that includes nursing information. The objective of this study was to determine international criteria for nursing information systems when such systems become part of the electronic patient record. Using the Delphi methodology, criteria for nursing information systems development, content, structure, and use are established by an international panel of 36 experts in three succeeding rounds. Most criteria gained consensus and are useful for application in practice for development of information policy and information systems for nursing. Eventually, the list of criteria will be included in a nursing information reference model. Nursing will benefit from the application of the reference model and the criteria to develop adequate information and communication technology.

Can we solve current problems with nursing information systems?

Dutch nurses are confronted with health care information systems quite often. However, they do not take full advantage of electronic support for their care activities and professional development. The nursing process is often considered the core of nursing care delivery and guides the documentation of care. Currently, this process can be supported electronically. However, the actual use of nursing information systems (NISs) in the Netherlands is limited to a few sites. Therefore, it is timely to analyse the problems that exist in the development and use of NISs and to look for solutions to solve them. This paper proposes both the nursing information reference model (NIRM), and structured discussions for a proper course of action in the development and use of NISs.

Nursing information in electronic patient records: criteria established in a Delphi study.

Nursing lacks an adequate tool to assist in determining the essential components of an information policy in health care institutions, and to outline the nursing component of the electronic patient record. The objective of this study was to determine the criteria to which a nursing information system, and its developmental process, should comply with, when such system is part of an electronic patient record system. Using the Delphi methodology, criteria for nursing information systems were determined by an international panel of 36 experts in three succeeding rounds. Most criteria gained consensus and are very useful for use in practice for those involved in nursing system development. Eventually the list of criteria will be included in a nursing information reference model. Nursing will benefit from the application of the reference instrument and criteria to express their information needs and to develop adequate information technology.

Description of a comprehensive research project to develop a reference model for nursing information systems.

This paper describes a comprehensive research project in progress that aims to develop a Nursing Information Reference Model. The study consists of several components. Together these components should lead to the production of the reference model. At the time of submission of this paper several components of the study are finished. After describing the scope of the study as a whole, individual components will be presented. An overview will also be offered of those parts that are still under development.

[Towards congruence in nursing information provision in The Netherlands]. / Naar een samenhang in de verpleegkundige informatievoorziening in Nederland.

Few reliable data are available about nursing care in the Netherlands, whereas pressure from society to support the contributions of the discipline of nursing to health care delivery increases. This paper presents an information model to support analytical access to nursing labour and services. This model, the nursing information reference model (Dutch acronym 'VIRM') focuses on the structure to achieve congruence between data from the primary process of nursing care and data derived from that process for clinical practice, management, research, and policy purposes. The model is based on the 'collect-once/use-often' principle of data collection and management, which emphasizes single collection and registration through the patient record for multiple subsequent uses and purposes. In this paper core elements of the VIRM are being discussed. Determination of data from the primary process of nursing care to be provided for certain aims is currently being conducted by the Dutch Nursing Minimum Data Set (VMDNS) initiative. The article at issue should be understood as a starting point in the discussion about the development of a Nursing Minimum Data Set in the Netherlands.

Classification systems in nursing: formalizing nursing knowledge and implications for nursing information systems.

The development of nursing information systems (NIS) is often hampered by the fact that nursing lacks a unified nursing terminology and classification system. Currently there exist various initiatives in this area. We address the question as to how current initiatives in the development of nursing terminology and classification systems can contribute towards the development of NIS. First, the rationale behind the formalization of nursing knowledge is discussed. Next, using a framework for nursing information processing, the most important developments in the field of nursing on formalization, terminology and classification are critically reviewed. The initiatives discussed include nursing terminology projects in several countries, and the International Classification of Nursing Practice. Suggestions for further developments in the area are discussed. Finally, implications for NIS are presented, as well as the relationships of these components to other sections of an integrated computerized patient record.

Nursing information management and processing: a framework and definition for systems analysis, design and evaluation.

This paper discusses a new framework and definition for the development of nursing information systems. Graves and Corcoran presented a framework for nursing informatics and defined the science. In this article their framework is expanded to include nursing practice as domain of study and to better integrate the fact that nursing informatics finds its foundation in both the nursing and the informatics disciplines. The expansion is based on both the review of definitions of medical and nursing informatics and of models and descriptions from the informatics discipline. For research purposes, the domain of nursing informatics is defined, and methods for conducting investigations in the area of analysis, modeling and development of nursing information systems are described.