A nursing diagnosis may be part of the nursing process and is a clinical judgment about individual, family, or community experiences/responses to actual or potential health problems/life processes. Nursing diagnoses foster the nurse's independent practice compared to dependent interventions driven by physician's orders. Nursing diagnoses are developed based on data obtained during the nursing assessment. An problem-based nursing diagnosis presents a problem response present at time of assessment. Risk diagnoses represent vulnerabilities to potential problems, and health promotion diagnoses identify areas which can be enhanced to improve health. Whereas a medical diagnosis identifies a disorder, a nursing diagnosis identifies the unique ways in which individuals respond to health and/or life processes and/or crises. The nursing diagnostic process is unique among others. A nursing diagnosis integrates patient involvement, when possible, throughout the process. NANDA International (NANDA-I) is body of professionals that develops, researches and refines an official taxonomy of nursing diagnosis.
Medical classification, or medical coding, is the process of transforming descriptions of medical diagnoses and procedures into universal medical code numbers. The diagnoses and procedures are usually taken from a variety of sources within the health care record, such as the transcription of the physician's notes, laboratory results, radiologic results, and other sources.
NANDA International is a professional organization of nurses interested in standardized nursing terminology, that was officially founded in 1982 and develops, researches, disseminates and refines the nomenclature, criteria, and taxonomy of nursing diagnoses. In 2002, NANDA relaunched as NANDA International in response to the broadening scope of its membership. NANDA International published Nursing Diagnosis quarterly, which became the International Journal of Nursing Knowledge in 2002. The Membership Network Groups foster collaboration among NANDA-I members in countries and for languages: the German Language Group and the Dutch Language Group.
The nursing process is a modified scientific method. Nursing practise was first described as a four-stage nursing process by Ida Jean Orlando in 1958. It should not be confused with nursing theories or health informatics. The diagnosis phase was added later.
The SOAP note is a method of documentation employed by health care providers to write out notes in a patient's chart, along with other common formats, such as the admission note. Documenting patient encounters in the medical record is an integral part of practice workflow starting with patient appointment scheduling, to writing out notes, to medical billing.
Procedure codes are a sub-type of medical classification used to identify specific surgical, medical, or diagnostic interventions. The structure of the codes will depend on the classification; for example some use a numerical system, others alphanumeric.
An advanced practice nurse (APN) is a nurse with post-graduate education in nursing. APNs are prepared with advanced didactic and clinical education, knowledge, skills, and scope of practice in nursing.
Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes (LOINC) is a database and universal standard for identifying medical laboratory observations. First developed in 1994, it was created and is maintained by the Regenstrief Institute, a US nonprofit medical research organization. LOINC was created in response to the demand for an electronic database for clinical care and management and is publicly available at no cost.
A clinical nurse specialist (CNS) is an advanced practice nurse who can provide expert advice related to specific conditions or treatment pathways. According to the International Council of Nurses (ICN), an Advanced Practice Nurse is a registered nurse who has acquired the expert knowledge base, complex decision-making skills and clinical competencies for expanded practice, the characteristics of which are shaped by the context and/or country in which s/he is credentialed to practice. Clinical Nurse Specialists are registered nurses, who have graduate level nursing preparation at the master's or doctoral level as a CNS. They are clinical experts in evidence-based nursing practice within a specialty area, treating and managing the health concerns of patients and populations. The CNS specialty may be focused on individuals, populations, settings, type of care, type of problem, or diagnostic systems subspecialty. CNSs practice autonomously and integrate knowledge of disease and medical treatments into the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of patients' illnesses. These nurses design, implement, and evaluate both patient–specific and population-based programs of care. CNSs provide leadership in the advanced practice of nursing to achieve quality and cost-effective patient outcomes as well as provide leadership of multidisciplinary groups in designing and implementing innovative alternative solutions that address system problems and/or patient care issues. In many jurisdictions, CNSs, as direct care providers, perform comprehensive health assessments, develop differential diagnoses, and may have prescriptive authority. Prescriptive authority allows them to provide pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic treatments and order diagnostic and laboratory tests in addressing and managing specialty health problems of patients and populations. CNSs serve as patient advocates, consultants, and researchers in various settings [American Nurses Association (ANA) Scope and Standards of Practice (2004), p. 15].
MEDCIN, a system of standardized medical terminology, is a proprietary medical vocabulary and was developed by Medicomp Systems, Inc. MEDCIN is a point-of-care terminology, intended for use in Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems, and it includes over 280,000 clinical data elements encompassing symptoms, history, physical examination, tests, diagnoses and therapy. This clinical vocabulary contains over 38 years of research and development as well as the capability to cross map to leading codification systems such as SNOMED CT, CPT, ICD-9-CM/ICD-10-CM, DSM, LOINC, CDT, CVX, and the Clinical Care Classification (CCC) System for nursing and allied health.
Mid-level practitioners, also called assistant practice clinicians, are health care providers who have received different training and have a more restricted scope of practice than physicians and other health professionals in some states, but who do have a formal certificate and accreditation through the licensing bodies in their jurisdictions. Advanced Practice Provider (APP) is a term which Nurse Practitioners, Nurse Anesthetists, Physician Assistants, Clinical Nurse Specialists, and Nurse Midwives prefer for themselves rather than "Mid-level provider". The terms "Mid-level provider" or "Mid-level practitioners" have been widely accepted for many years however, they are now seen as derogatory and offensive. Many providers simply prefer their professional title, such as nurse practitioner (NP) or physician assistant (PA).
The Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC) is a care classification system which describes the activities that nurses perform as a part of the planning phase of the nursing process associated with the creation of a nursing care plan.
The Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC) is a classification system which describes patient outcomes sensitive to nursing intervention. The NOC is a system to evaluate the effects of nursing care as a part of the nursing process. The NOC contains 330 outcomes, and each with a label, a definition, and a set of indicators and measures to determine achievement of the nursing outcome and are included The terminology is an American Nurses' Association-recognized terminology, is included in the UMLS, and is HL7 registered.
The Nursing Minimum Data Set (NMDS) is a classification system which allows for the standardized collection of essential nursing data. The collected data are meant to provide an accurate description of the nursing process used when providing nursing care. The NMDS allow for the analysis and comparison of nursing data across populations, settings, geographic areas, and time.
Evidence-based nursing (EBN) is an approach to making quality decisions and providing nursing care based upon personal clinical expertise in combination with the most current, relevant research available on the topic. This approach is using evidence-based practice (EBP) as a foundation. EBN implements the most up to date methods of providing care, which have been proven through appraisal of high quality studies and statistically significant research findings. The goal of EBN is to improve the health and safety of patients while also providing care in a cost-effective manner to improve the outcomes for both the patient and the healthcare system. EBN is a process founded on the collection, interpretation, appraisal, and integration of valid, clinically significant, and applicable research. The evidence used to change practice or make a clinical decision can be separated into seven levels of evidence that differ in type of study and level of quality. To properly implement EBN, the knowledge of the nurse, the patient's preferences, and multiple studies of evidence must all be collaborated and utilized in order to produce an appropriate solution to the task at hand. These skills are taught in modern nursing education and also as a part of professional training.
Nursing documentation is the record of nursing care that is planned and delivered to individual clients by qualified nurses or other caregivers under the direction of a qualified nurse. It contains information in accordance with the steps of the nursing process. Nursing documentation is the principal clinical information source to meet legal and professional requirements, and one of the most significant components in nursing care. Quality nursing documentation plays a vital role in the delivery of quality nursing care services through supporting better communication between different care team members to facilitate continuity of care and safety of the clients.
