Standardized nursing vocabularies: a foundation for quality care.

OBJECTIVES

To describe the importance of standardized nursing vocabularies as a foundation for quality in health care decision-making.

DATA SOURCES

Literature, online sources, and committee documents.

CONCLUSIONS

Several standardized vocabularies are recognized by the American Nurses Association Committee for Nursing Practice Information Infrastructure. Vendors also have integrated the vocabularies into their information systems. Future efforts include developing an international nursing reference terminology.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE

Oncology nurses face quality of care issues that impact decision-making at the point of care. To describe their practice, oncology nurses must strive to use nursing data that are standardized, documented, and made visible by inclusion in computer-based systems.