Describing parish nurse practice using the nursing minimum data set

The purpose of this study was to describe parish nurses' practice using the framework of the Nursing Minimum Data Set (NMDS). Nineteen perish nurses p racticing in 22 faith communities collected data using standardized nursing classification systems (North American Nursing Diagnosis Association [NAND A] Taxonomy and Nursing intervention Classification [NIC]). A database was developed for quantitative analysis. Nurses recorded 1,557 encounters for s ervices provided to 776 individuals. Over the period studied, the nurses re corded 1,730 nursing diagnoses and 3,451 nursing interventions. The most fr equent nursing diagnoses and nursing interventions are reported and emphasi zed health promotion and illness prevention. The pariah nurse roles of educ ator, counselor, referral agent, and advocate/facilitator, described in the literature, were consistent with the findings of this study. A focus group of the parish. nurses provided validation of the results of the database d escriptions of practice. The nurses also identified issues related to the u se of NANDA and NIC in documenting practice.