Evaluation of the draft international standard for a reference terminology model for nursing actions

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to evaluate the draft ISO reference terminology model (RTM) for nursing actions. Nursing RTM models attempt to include concepts that are universally represented in nursing documentation to improve the depiction of nursing practice in computerized systems. METHOD Content analysis was used to decompose interventions into words and phrases, which were then mapped to the six model categories used to represent nursing actions in the draft ISO RTM. The decomposition of interventions was applied to nurses' documentation of pain interventions entered into a clinical information system. FINDINGS Consistent with the ISO standard requirements, all (100.00%) of the interventions contained an word or phrase and a <>. Additional findings are discussed in relation to earlier studies of terminology models. CONCLUSIONS It is recommended that terminology and information system developers consider this model in their ongoing system development, evaluation, maintenance, and revisions. Further evaluation of the ISO RTM for nursing will contribute to the goals of this specific model and the harmonization and integration with other health care models.