A REVIEW OF MAJOR NURSING VOCABULARIES AND THE EXTENT TO WHICH THEY HAVE THE CHARACTERISTICS REQUIRED FOR IMPLEMENTATION IN COMPUTER-BASED SYSTEMS

Building on the work of previous authors, the Computer-based Patient R ecord Institute (CPRI) Work Group on Codes and Structures has describe d features of a classification scheme for implementation within a comp uter-leased patient record. The authors of the current study reviewed the evaluation literature related to six major nursing vocabularies (t he North American Nursing Diagnosis Association Taxonomy 1, the Nursin g Interventions Classification, the Nursing Outcomes Classification, t he Home Health Care Classification, the Omaha System, and the Internat ional Classification for Nursing Practice) to determine the extent to which the vocabularies include the CPRI features. None of the vocabula ries met all criteria. The Omaha System, Home Health Care Classificati on, and International Classification for Nursing Practice each include d five features. Criteria not fully met by any systems were clear and non-redundant representation of concepts, administrative cross-referen ces, syntax and grammar, synonyms, uncertainty, context-free identifie rs, and language independence.