NOW FOR AN ORIGINAL PAPER ASSIGNMENT:Documentation of Utility in Practice

The Committee for Nursing Practice Information Infrastructure (CNPII of the American Nurses Association (ANA) has recognized thirteen standardized languages, one of which has been retired. Two are minimum data sets, seven are nursing specific, and two are interdisciplinary. The ANA (2006b) Recognized Terminologies and Data Element Sets outlines the components of each of these languages.

The submission of a language for recognition by CNPPII is a voluntary process for the developers. This terminology is evaluated by the committee to determine if it meets a set of criteria. “The criteria, which are updated periodically, state that the data set, classification, or nomenclature must provide a rationale for its development and support the nursing process by providing clinically useful terminology. The concepts must be clear and ambiguous, and there must be documentation of utility in practice, as well as validity, and reliability. Additionally, there must be a named group who will be responsible for maintaining and revising the system” (Thede & Sewell, 2010, p. 293).

Another ANA committee, the Nursing Information and Data Set Evaluation Center (NIDSEC), evaluates implementation of a terminology by a vendor. This approval is similar to obtaining the good seal of approval from Good Housekeeping or the United Laboratories (UL) seal on products. The approval signifies that the documentation in the standardized language supports the documentation of nursing practice and conforms to standards pertaining to computerized information systems. The language is evaluated against standards that follow the Joint Commission’s model for evaluation. The language must support documentation on a nursing information system (NIS) or computerized patient record system (CPR). The criteria used by the ANA to evaluate how the standardized language(s) are implemented, include how the terms can be connected, how easily the records can be stored and retrieved, and how well the security and confidentiality of the records are maintained. The recognition is valid for three years. A new application must be submitted at the end of the three years for further recognition. Some, but not all of the standardized languages are copyrighted. (The previous paragraphs were updated 2/23/09. See previous content.)