The international classification for nursing practice: a tool to support nursing practice?

Nurses have been slow to realise the uniqueness of their data and the importance of data management across the profession. This has resulted in nursing being neglected as a partner in healthcare because the data nurses collect cannot be easily retrieved from the patient record and is not widely used to support nursing practice. Nurses, as they should, have rejected language classification systems that are inadequate or inappropriate, but with the implementation of electronic health records, consensus on language classification must be achieved. One problem has been finding an appropriate terminology/s that represents the spectrum of nursing practice while making sense to both the user and computer. In 1989 the International Council of Nurses began work to achieve this and the International Classification for Nursing Practice (ICNP) was born. This paper provides an insight into language classification, explores the ICNP as a tool for nursing practice and discusses some of the projects undertaken thus far.

Counterfeits kill!

The International Council of Nurses (ICN) takes the global problem of counterfeit medicines very seriously. Its anti-counterfeiting campaign, launched on International Nurses Day (12 May) in 2005, aims to raise awareness of this problem among nurses and other health professionals and eventually the public.

More than terminology: using ICNP to enhance nursing's visibility in Italy

BACKGROUND

The International Council of Nurses (ICN) has elaborated an international terminology for nursing practice [International Classification of Nursing Practice (ICNP)] that can be useful to catalogue the problems of a nursing nature in diagnosis and also find a system for the classification of nursing activities. ICNP is also the reason why the Italian association Consociazione, representing Italian Nurses at ICN, through the School of Advanced Nursing of the University 'La Sapienza' of Rome, has set up a working group for the translation and experimentation of the ICNP version Beta 2.

CONTENT

In this article the ICNP beta translation and validation into Italian is considered with some scenarios of how benefit could be derived by its utilization for nursing's visibility. The visibility of nursing care can be measured not only through patient outcomes but also by studying the existing data of patient care documentation. To have a common language and terminology in nursing is important for a universal understanding.

RESULTS

Some philosophical reasoning on the genesis and development of ICNP is discussed along with arguments for and against nursing classification systems. Some findings on Italian experimentation for nursing documentation as well as economical analysis are reported along with a vision for future development and utilization.

One size doesn't fit all: ethics of international nurse recruitment from the conceptual framework of stakeholder interests

This theoretical study examines the ethics of international nurse recruitment from the conceptual framework of stakeholder interests. It argues that there are stakeholders at individual, institutional, national and international levels, with overlapping but, more often, different or even conflicting interests. Depending on the interests of given stakeholders, different conclusions regarding the ethics of international nurse recruitment may be reached. There is no right or wrong with these varying ethical positions because they reflect different beliefs and philosophies that are not amenable to value judgment. To illustrate and support this line of argument, this article analyzes the underpinnings of two ethical standards published by the International Council of Nurses and the UK Department of Health. In addition, a case study on China augments the argument by demonstrating limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach to the issue. The most important question in understanding and evaluating the ethical standards of international nurse recruitment is to know whose interests they are designed to represent and protect.

Global nurse leaders: lessons from the sages

Globalization changes the benchmarking of excellence from national to "world class" standards. A synthesis of literature about global leadership was used to guide interviews with 17 nurse leaders from 8 countries in 5 continents. The leaders demonstrated leadership from early school years, learned from their mentors, had productive and sustained results in their work with peers and students, and realized their potential in becoming leaders in global health and nursing. The leadership development of future nurses requires formal and informal education, and training for global competencies, international experiences at home and abroad, and promoting and rewarding international work.

Mutual enhancement of diverse terminologies

The purpose of this study was to map the North American Nursing Diagnosis Association (NANDA) nursing diagnoses to the International Classification for Nursing Practice Version 1.0 (ICNP) and to compare the resulting representations and relationships to those within SNOMED Clinical Terms (CT). Independent reviewers reached agreement on 25 (i.e. 64%) of the 39 parent-child relationships identified via the mappings between NANDA entities. Other parent-child relationships were more questionable and are in need of further discussion. This work does not seek to promote one terminology over any other. Rather, this collaborative effort has the potential to mutually enhance all three terminologies involved in the study: ICNP, SNOMED CT and NANDA. In doing so it provides an example of the type of collaborative effort that is needed to facilitate the development of tools to support interoperability at a global level.

Contributing to the ICNPR: validating the term 'informal settlement'

AIM

The specific aims of this study were to propose a definition of the term informal settlement, validate the term informal settlement, and submit a term and definition for international utilization to the International Council of Nurses (ICN) for consideration for inclusion in the International Classification of Nursing Practice (ICNP).

BACKGROUND

South Africa was one of four African countries (Botswana, South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe) funded by the WK Kellogg Foundation to participate in the ICNP project. South Africa had two research groups. One of the research groups identified the term informal settlement to define.

METHODS

This was a qualitative study where a philosophical perspective was used to explore, explain and describe nursing practice. The combined method proposed by the ICN was utilized to define and validate the term informal settlement.

FINDINGS

Validation and literature review provided sufficient support for the defined characteristics and the term was finally defined and submitted to ICN on 12 April 2001 as informal settlement is a type of residential development with the specific characteristics--temporary residential structures, erected with limited or no formal infrastructure, densely populated, no secure tenure for occupants, no property demarcations, often associated with overcrowding/limited or no privacy, and low standard of living, being situated in high risk areas with an increased risk for disease and disasters.

CONCLUSION

The ICNP Evaluation Committee recommended inclusion in the ICNP with minor changes in February 2003.

Contributing to the ICNP: validating the term cultural diversity

AIM

The specific aims of this study were to: Propose a definition of the term cultural diversity; Validate the term cultural diversity; and Submit a term and definition for international utilisation to the International Council of Nurses (ICN) for consideration for inclusion in the ICNP.

BACKGROUND

South Africa was one of four African countries (Botswana, South Africa, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe) funded by the WK Kellogg Foundation to participate in the ICNP project. South Africa had 2 research groups. One of the research groups identified the term cultural diversity to define.

METHOD

This was a qualitative study where a philosophical perspective was used to explore, explain and describe nursing practice. The combined method proposed by the International Council of Nurses (ICN) was utilised to define and validate the term cultural diversity.

FINDINGS

Validation and literature review provided sufficient support for the defined characteristics and the term was finally defined and submitted to ICN in November 2002 as: CULTURAL DIVERSITY is a type of CULTURE with the specific characteristics: co-existence of different groups, e.g. ethnic, religious, linguistic and other groups each with their own values and belief systems, traditions and different lifestyles.

CONCLUSION

The research group was informed in December 2003 of the ICNP Evaluation Committee recommendation that the term cultural diversity will be included in the ICNP.

With knowledge comes innovation, and with innovation: power

The World Trade Centre in Taipei, Taiwan, was like a city of nurses in May, when nurses from across the globe met to discuss issues affecting their profession. The challenges they discussed were at once similar and different; universal and unique. But whatever the problem, all of nursing's solutions were on show at this meeting. The contributions nurses make to the health of their own, and the global population; the way they appropriate technology; their participation in debates about the philosophy of health and caring; nursing innovations that are improving education and clinical practice; and the involvement of nurses in political debate and their influence on health policy--all were evident in abundance at the International Council of Nursing (ICN) congress where 4,000 nurses from 140 nations gathered to talk about knowledge and innovation in nursing.

Books on the move

Nurses working in developing and resource-poor countries are being provided with up-to-date textbooks and journals through the International Council of Nurses' mobile library scheme

Introducing undergraduate students to global health challenges through web-based learning

Since many students cannot afford the expense of international travel, creative and active learning methods are needed to help students experience the increased awareness that results from exposure to global health concepts. The global health course described in this article uses a variety of web-based learning experiences and other interactive strategies to equip future nurses for leadership roles in global health. An emphasis on written communication is an important component of the course.