ICNP® – why not? Nurses’ opinions on the implementation of ICNP® vocabulary for clinical practice

Abstract

ICNP® – WHY NOT? NURSES’ OPINIONS ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ICNP® VOCABULARY FOR CLINICAL PRACTICE

Introduction. The most important application of information technology in nursing is generating and maintaining patient’s electronic records. Implementing ICNPR to this can guarantee the continuity and high quality of evidence-based care.

Aim. Obtaining information on nurses’ opinions on the implementation of ICNPR in clinical practice.

Material and methods. The study was conducted in late 2018 and early 2019 in a group of 104 nurses of the University Clinical Centre in Gdańsk. It involved conducting a diagnostic survey.

Results. Prior to the survey, 77.9% of the respondents were aware of ICNPR. The respondents who did not provide the correct answer to question about the essence of the ICNPR were mostly over 45 years of age. When it comes to 25% of subjects, they declared they were willing to use ICNPR. The vast majority considered it more convenient to maintain care records in the traditional way than with the use of ICNPR. The respondents with a master’s degree showed a higher level of acceptance for the implementation of the ICNPR to clinical practice than respondents with secondary and tertiary education.

Conclusions. The nursing staff over 45 years old presented a lower level of knowledge related to the ICNPR as compared to other respondents. The reasons behind the conviction that applying ICNPR would be difficult included understaffing and lack of mobile devices such as tablets or laptops in hospital wards. It is, therefore, necessary to launch a nursing terminology training programme, equip branches with the necessary devices and comply with minimum employment standards.