TELENURSE--nursing classifications, quality indicators and the electronic nursing record.

In the area of nursing, national and international clinical databases are practically non-existing. The lack of common nomenclatures and classifications is the main reason for this situation. This article elaborates on the TELENURSE project's two objectives which focus on improving that situation. The first objective concerns the "The International Classification for Nursing Practice" (ICNP) and methods for implementation of ICNP electronically in nursing modules of electronic patient records. The second objective concerns the development of a clinical nursing database in which clinical data collected from electronic nursing systems can be stored. On the basis of this data storage, nursing indicators can be developed, which in the long term allows for comparison of nursing interventions across Europe.