North American Nursing Diagnosis Association –International (NANDA-I) and Nursing Interventions Classifications (NIC) are medical classifications, of which NANDA-I refers to enumerative system for nursing diagnosis and NIC refers to nursing terminology used generally in medicine. Hence, NANDA-I and NIC are recognized by all the nursing, medical and vocational systems in the entire North America as the acceptable terms for diagnoses, interventions, and outcomes (Butcher, et al., 2013). They are fundamental in the determination of adequate nursing care and cover standardized classifications of diagnoses, interventions, and results. Both systems referred to above are crucial for the maintenance and, promotion of quality health care.
As the standardized ratings within North America, the classifications are used to guide in the determination of critical health decisions by the nurses and other medical practitioners. Indeed such recognized standards can serve as points of references and offer criteria mechanisms to assess nursing and medical outcomes among the patients, and both classifications are globally acceptable (Hwang, Cimino & Bakken, 2003). NANDA-I and NIC are applicable in all kinds of care environments such as in-patient and out-patient hospitals, nursing homes, and rehabilitation centers across the entire nursing care facilities. International heath care practitioners are also entitled to licenses to complement NANDA-I and NIC.
American nursing terminology system provides nurses with a solid background for clinical assessment and diagnoses through the application of terms and standardized criteria for interventions and expected/desired outcomes. The two classifications offer evidence –based strategies for nursing and medical care and hence provide a basis for prioritizing crucial diagnoses, interventions, and outcomes specific to each and every patient (Butcher, et al., 2013). Moreover, specific requirements of the patient are in close tandem with equipment and facilities available at a health institution to enhance the quality of care. As such, both classifications assess the outcome changes within particular moments and over a given period, which equips professionals with factual and reliable information of the whole remedial process. NIC covers all areas of healthcare and provides the nurses with efficient nursing procedures and evaluation measures in staffing and cost viability specific to the location. NANDA-I offers a nursing diagnosis as the basis for teaching, learning, and assessment methods. To round up, the classifications are positively recognized in nursing and medical schools as supplement to the framework of nursing upon which numerous curricula are created and successfully implemented by medical professors (Butcher, et al., 2013). Apart from that, the classifications offer an excellent basis for benchmarking and evaluation of both the students and staff. The classifications also provide standards to carry out adequate research on the effectiveness of the nursing care as determined by specific treatment goals. Both the ratings mentioned above make available the acceptable standards upon which electronics health records are assessed for appropriate diagnoses, interventions and outcomes.
The development of technology has affected every profession around the globe. The nursing profession is never an exception since it has embraced the application of technology to promote and enhance diagnoses, and a problem response. Without comprehensive terminology system the aspects of nursing cannot be fully and systematically addressed including compilation of reliable health records and risk factors. The codification of nursing data is an essential part of the electronic medical records and helps to improve quality, promote safety, efficiency and health discrepancies in case of unexpected loss of the health records. The coding system also eliminates the possibility of duplication of nursing data. Each code is unique and acceptable to the nursing profession leading to easy accessibility to health records which enhance prompt nursing interventions and care (Hwang, Cimino & Bakken, 2003). In that regard, ANA (American Nursing Association), NIC (Nursing Intervention Classifications) and NANDA-I are recognized as standard codes in the international nursing profession.
Confidentiality on health issues is of utmost importance, and the health care providers should strive at all times to meet that aspect of their professional ethics (Butcher, et al., 2013). The health records of patients are sensitive documents and should not be accessed by third parties without the consent of the patient. The health care providers should endeavor to protect such information at all times. The health care providers should avoid printing documents that contain patient's information at home. Strong passwords are recommended to healthcare providers so that relevant medical records are not easily accessible.
In the privacy of information, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability (HIPAA) allows health care professional to communicate and share information with a patient's family, relatives or friends taking care of the patient. This because HIPAA recognizes the pivotal role played by members of a family and close friends. However, if the patient is in a position to make his independent decisions about their health care and objects to a communication of some information with the family members, then the health provider needs to comply (Von Krogh, Dale & Nåden, 2005). If the patient has got no capacity to make sound decisions regarding own health, then the health care provider may share their health information with family and friends concerned with their health care or payments. The main idea of privacy of information is that the patient must be consulted by the heath provider before any information is disclosed to family and friends. However, that is only applicable if the patient is in a position to make sound judgments related to his health. No disclosure of information should be allowed if the patient objects. The health care provider is obliged to consult the patient before making any such disclosures.
Psychotherapy treatments, however, receive special protection mainly because Psychotherapy notes do not include medical records or diagnosis related to a patient's health. The notes made during the psychotherapy sessions may not be useful for any other purpose, and therefore, the healthcare providers are not obliged to reveal such information to family and friends. If a patient does not object, a psychiatrist may communicate with family members present about drugs that patients require (Von Krogh, Dale & Nåden, 2005). A health care provider could also provide information to a spouse of the patient about any signs that could point to an emergency or give a warning that something serious is developing. The action is allowed if there is no objection from the patient
Codification of nursing data is significant for home patients. Working from home could affect complying with regulations and ethical behavior. Patient's records could become accessible to other members of the family (Von Krogh, Dale & Nåden, 2005). For example, printed copies could be read by members of the therapists family and hence disclose vital information about the client. That does not comply with the regulations and ethics as demanded by the healthcare profession. Some email passwords are shared at home, and they could be used to access sensitive patient information. To avoid that, health professionals should ensure that they don't disclose passwords of emails or records that contain patient's information. All these could highly comprise complying with regulations and ethics if a health care provider is working from home. The codification of the nursing data is crucial in upholding patient's privacy as particular codes are only released to concerned health authorities.
The codification of the nursing data also improves nursing care coordination due to the easy accessibility of patient information during treatments and diagnoses. The codification systems enhance population and public heath due to the higher rates of information flow as large amounts of data are available in the electronic records, than in the manual records.
For example in the methadone treatment, nurses rely on NANDA-I and NIC classifications for evidence-based interventions measures due to the complexity involved. Methadone treatment may not be an effective treatment for patients who suffer from sexual dysfunction. Such customers should be put on other treatment programs as methadone treatments may aggravate their health conditions (Strain & Stitzer, 1999). Methadone treatment also works better with patients who function well in teams. That is informed by the fact that the treatment adopts a comprehensive approach to its administration, and the individual differences play a vital role. The methadone treatment may not favor clients who are not good at interacting and information sharing (Strain & Stitzer, 1999). The procedure requires openness to enable the therapies to determine the best doses for treatment the addiction. Patients who continue to abuse other substances as they engage in the treatment may not be suitable candidates for methadone therapy.
In conclusion, NANDA-I and NIC are holistic standardized classifications of nursing interventions, diagnoses, and outcomes that enhance the comprehensive care of the patient. The ratings improve efficiency while providing the basis for benchmarking, assessment, research and evidence-based practice in the nursing profession.
References
Butcher, H. K., Bulechek, G. M., Dochterman, J. M. M., & Wagner, C. (2013). Nursing interventions classification (NIC). Elsevier Health Sciences.
Hwang, J. I., Cimino, J. J., & Bakken, S. (2003). Integrating nursing diagnostic concepts into the medical entities dictionary using the ISO Reference Terminology Model for Nursing Diagnosis. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 10(4), 382-388.
Strain, E. C., & Stitzer, M. L. (1999). Methadone treatment for opioid dependence. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Von Krogh, G., Dale, C., & Nåden, D. (2005). A framework for integrating NANDA, NIC, and NOC terminology in electronic patient records. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 37(3), 275-281.
