Applying Standardized Nursing Language to Three Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehabilitation Programs in a Rural Setting

BACKGROUND

The need for travel between rural and tertiary hospitals for cardiopulmonary services is a reality many patients experience. Communication between hospitals is essential in providing the most effective and efficient patient care. This work involved incorporating NANDA, NIC, and NOC into standard care plans and the ongoing documentation expansion for the care of an outpatient cardiopulmonary population.

MAIN CONTENT POINTS

This regional project involved cardiopulmonary rehabilitation programs from three Mayo Health System affiliates. Acute care had begun to use NANDA, NIC, and NOC for computerized documentation. Cardiopulmonary services realized the benefits of following acute care's lead in applying standardized nursing language to outpatients. The project was undertaken to enhance communication across the care continuum.

Pertinent NANDA nursing diagnoses, NIC interventions, and NOC outcomes were identified, a process that invoked the discussion of the commonalities and differences among the three taxonomies. This became beneficial in benchmarking the different program structures and gleaning best practices. Through much discussion the care plans were developed with subsequent revisions as necessary.

Issues surrounding the project included getting used to the terminology and computerization, getting bogged down in the details, trusting each other with information about programs, building a group cohesiveness, seeing timely results of our efforts, and communication among sites.

CONCLUSIONS

Benefits realized through this project were strengthening the comprehensiveness of the plan of care for cardiopulmonary patients and computerizing the patient record. Through this process the interdisciplinary cardiopulmonary practice was better defined. Communication was strengthened because standardized nursing language took the “fuzz” out of communication between providers and across the care continuum. Another outcome included establishing trust and collegiality among the three sites for future networking and problem solving. Outcomes data can be used to test the effectiveness of nursing interventions for the improvement of patient care. This research should encompass studying the effectiveness of care provided within the programs as well as across the care continuum.