Exploring the Knowledge and Use of Standardised Nursing Terminology Across Australia

Standardised nursing terminologies (SNTs) support the visibility of nursing work and documentation, enabling data sharing and comparison. An online survey assessed the knowledge and use of SNTs and revealed barriers and enablers to their use by Australian nurses. Just over half of the respondents were familiar with SNTs before the survey, a quarter reported a reasonable understanding of SNTs, just under half reported previous use of a SNT, and less than 14% indicated a current use of a SNT in their workplace. Perceived benefits to SNTs identified by respondents included a reduction in variation and the ability to evaluate the effectiveness of nursing care by measuring outcomes. Both barriers and enablers to the use of SNTs included education and training, standardisation and contextualisation across Australia, and integration into any electronic medical record system. Nurses are poorly informed on what SNTs are and how they can be leveraged to support their work and documentation. There is a need for an Australia-wide strategic approach to ensure the future of nurses’ work is visible, and SNTs are purposefully and correctly implemented across the country.