ANA and NIC

Great job of understanding the "scientific" classification of nursing work is a series of articles at Online Journal of Issues in Nursing (OJIN): http://nursingworld.org/ojin/tpc7/tpc7toc.htm

From: CLASSIFYING NURSING WORK

http://nursingworld.org/ojin/tpc7/tpc7_6.htm

The Nursing Intervention Classification (NIC) aims to depict the range of activities that nurses carry out in their daily routines. Their original system consisted of a list of some 336 interventions; each comprised of a label, a definition, a set of activities, and a short list of background readings. Each of those interventions is in turn classified within a taxonomy of six domains and 26 classes. For example, one of the tasks nurses commonly perform is preparing and monitoring intravenous medication. The nursing intervention Epidural Analgesia Administration is defined as: "preparation and delivery of narcotic analgesics into the epidural space"; another common one, Cough Enhancement, groups activities designed to help respiration. Caring work such as calming and educating patients, usually done by nurses, often cuts across specific medical diagnostic categories. The NIC investigators use their list of interventions in order to make visible and legitimate the work that nurses do. The idea is that it will be used to compare work across hospitals, specialties and geographical areas, and to build objective research measures for the outcomes. NIC, although still relatively young, promises to be a major rallying point for nurses in the decades to come. More information can be found at: http://coninfo.nursing.uiowa.edu/nic/index.htm.

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Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice

As the keystone of the ANA nursing standards, this fourth version since 1973 delineates the professional responsibilities of all practicing registered nurses, regardless of setting. It discusses in detail the scope of all nursing practice, and discusses and presents a set of professional clinical practice and performance standards (and measurement criteria). It also offers a unifying framework by which specialty organizations and ANA can co-develop practice standards and guidelines. In addition to its complete revision and update of the 1998 edition, this indexed edition contains the previous three versions and other background material. 2003/126 pp.

http://nursingworld.org/books/pdescr.cfm?CNum=15

Scope and Standards of Gerontological Nursing Practice, 2nd Edition

Written in collaboration with the National Gerontological Nursing Association, National Association of Directors of Nursing Administration in Long Term Care, and National Conference of Gerontological Nurse Practitioners.

This complete revision brings up to date the scope of gerontological nursing practice and its standards of care and professional performance, with specific criteria for defining expectations and competent care associated with basic and advanced clinical practice in this speciality. A guide to current practice, this title applies to gerontological nursing in clinical practice across all settings, from institutions and ambulatory care centers to alternative living and home care in the community.

http://nursingworld.org/books/pdescr.cfm?cnum=15#GNP21