The Impact of Standardized Nursing Terminology

Among the Resources in this module is the Rutherford (2008) article Standardized Nursing Language: What Does It Mean for Nursing Practice? In this article, the author recounts a visit to a local hospital to view the recent implementation of a new coding system.

During the visit, one of the nurses commented to her, “We document our care using standardized nursing languages but we don’t fully understand why we do” (Rutherford, 2008, para. 1).

How would you respond to a comment such as this one?

To Prepare:

• Review the concepts of informatics as presented in the Resources, particularly Rutherford, M. (2008) Standardized Nursing Language: What Does It Mean for Nursing Practice?
• Reflect on the role of a nurse leader as a knowledge worker.
• Consider how knowledge may be informed by data that is collected/accessed.

The Assignment:

In a 2- to 3-page paper, address the following:

• Explain how you would inform this nurse (and others) of the importance of standardized nursing terminologies.
• Describe the benefits and challenges of implementing standardized nursing terminologies in nursing practice. Be specific and provide examples.
• Be sure to support your paper with peer-reviewed research on standardized nursing terminologies that you consulted from the Walden Library.

By Day 7 of Week 5

Submit your completed Assignment.

Submission and Grading Information

To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:

• Please save your Assignment using the naming convention “WK5Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” as the name.
• Click the Week 5 Assignment Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
• Click the Week 5 Assignment link. You will also be able to “View Rubric” for grading criteria from this area.
• Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK5Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open.
• If applicable: From the Plagiarism Tools area, click the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database.
• Click on the Submit button to complete your submission.