[International classification of nursing practice (ICNP): introduction].

The identification and organization of nursing practice, or concerns that are the focus to nursing practice are the primary aim of the International Classification for Nursing practice (ICNP) that is being developed by the International Council of Nurses (ICN). In this article we like to present to you some background information about the ICNP, so that you can get familiar with this new development and gain some insight about its importance. We start with the beginning and the history of ICNP, and explain why we need it. Next we will discuss the objectives and current ICNP programme. Then we will present you a broad outline of the ICNP Beta version and some first experiences about the practicability and usefulness of it. At the end we will present some closing remarks.