title: Evaluation of the expressiveness of an ICNP-based nursing data dictionary in a computerized nursing record system.
abstract: This study evaluated the domain completeness and expressiveness issues of the International Classification for Nursing Practice-based (ICNP) nursing data dictionary (NDD) through its application in an enterprise electronic medical record (EMR) system as a standard vocabulary at a single tertiary hospital in Korea. Data from 2,262 inpatients obtained over a period of 9 weeks (May to July 2003) were extracted from the EMR system for analysis. Among the 530,218 data-input events, 401,190 (75.7%) were entered from the NDD, 20,550 (3.9%) used only free text, and 108,478 (20.4%) used a combination of coded data and free text. A content analysis of the free-text events showed that 80.3% of the expressions could be found in the NDD, whereas 10.9% were context-specific expressions such as direct quotations of patient complaints and responses, and references to the care plan or orders of physicians. A total of 7.8% of the expressions was used for a supplementary purpose such as adding a conjunction or end verb to make an expression appear as natural language. Only 1.0% of the expressions were identified as not being covered by the NDD. This evaluation study demonstrates that the ICNP-based NDD has sufficient power to cover most of the expressions used in a clinical nursing setting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, College of Medicine, Inha University, 253 Younghyun-dong, Nam-gu, Incheon 402-751, Korea. insook.cho@inha.ac.kr
authors.forename: Insook
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Hyeoun-Ae
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D004014:Dictionaries as Topic; D006801:Humans; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized / Q000145:classification; D009736:Nursing Process / Q000145:classification*; D009737:Nursing Records; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D018875:Vocabulary, Controlled