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


METHODS
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.


CONCLUSIONS
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.
FITNE, Inc, Athens, OH, USA.
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V
Elfrink
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S
Bakken
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A
Coenen
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B
McNeil
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C
Bickford
D000575:American Nurses' Association; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008490:Medical Informatics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D009736:Nursing Process / Q000592:standards*; D009859:Oncology Nursing / Q000592:standards*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012015:Reference Standards; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D014481:United States; D018875:Vocabulary, Controlled