The College of American Pathologists (CAP)
created a clinical terminology knows as SNOMEDCT (Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine--Clinical Terms). In 2007, the International Health TerminologyStandards Development Organization (IHTSDO),
which is a non- profit organization, collaborated with the CAP in operating SNOMED-related products and services. The SNOMED CT has been developed through sixstages, and the SNOMED RT is the most recent edition of the series of
SNOMED terminologies.
SNOMED
CT was implemented in response to standardized controlled terminology in
healthcare. It provides terms, concepts, and codings used for diagnosis, the
problem listed, interventions and outcomes. Within a Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) system, nurses and other
clinicians can select clinical terms from a lexicon based on SNOMED CT. The use
of controlled clinical terminology helps to specify clearly medical language
within a computer-based patient record.
SNOMED CT and Nursing
It was decisive to develop a
standardized nursing terminology that can exchange and make use of the
information with other healthcare terminology standards. Evaluating nursing
care and outcomes was difficult without the use of a standardized language. To
adequately represent nurses’ contributions to patient care, standardized
language captures and communicated the care process consistently and
accurately. The American Nurses Association (ANA) has recognized standardized
nursing languages such as North American Nursing Diagnosis Association (NANDA),
Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC), Nursing Outcomes Classification
(NOC), and others. SNOMED-CT includes the standardized nursing languages that
are recognized by ANA (e.g., NANDA, NIC, NOC and others). Nursing concepts from
a variety of existing classification systems converge and interrelate with one
another within SNOMED-CT. Using standardized nursing languages influence
practice to effective nursing interventions, improve patient outcomes, and
facilitate the development of nursing and healthcare information systems.
References
Lu, D., Park, H., Ucharattana, P., Konicek, D., & Delaney, C.
(2006). Nursing outcomes classification (NOC) in SNOMED CT: a cross-mapping
validation. International Journal Of Nursing Terminologies &
Classifications, 17(1), 43-44.
Park, H., Lu, D., Konicek, D., & Delaney, C. (2007). Nursing
interventions classification in systematized nomenclature of medicine clinical
terms: a cross-mapping validation. CIN: Computers, Informatics,
Nursing,25(4), 198-210.
