FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE/December 22, 1997 CONTACT:Michael Stewart [202/651-7048];Sara Foer [202/651-7023]; http://www.nursingworld.org IMMEDIATE RELEASEANA Nursing Information and Data Set Evaluation Center Now OperationalApplications Being AcceptedWashington, D.C. -- Responding to the growing use of computerized information systems in health care and the need for professional standards in this area, the American Nurses Association (ANA) established the Nursing Information and Data Set Evaluation Center (NIDSECSM), which is now fully operational. The Center, created in 1996, has since developed and now disseminates standards pertaining to the automated information systems that nurses use to document nursing care, and evaluates for a fee information systems voluntarily submitted by developers. The initial press run of the NIDSECSM Standards and Scoring Guidelines sold out quickly, and the document is now being reprinted in order to accommodate continuing demand. The Standards evaluate the completeness, accuracy, and appropriateness of four dimensions of nursing data sets and the systems that contain them: 1) nomenclature; 2) clinical content; 3) clinical data repository (how the data are stored and made accessible for retrieval); and 4) general system characteristics. A "data set" consists of a set of terms provided to clinicians for recording assessments, diagnoses, goals, interventions, and documentation on the plan of care and outcomes. Interested parties may now order copies of the Standards ($12.00 for members of State Nurses Associations, $12.50 for non-members) and the NIDSECSM Application Packet ($100.00). There are two deadlines each year for receipt of applications: April 1 and September 1. The fee to a developer of having the application reviewed and processed is $20,000. Vendors who meet the NIDSECSM standards will be able to state that they use "ANA-Recognized Data Sets" when marketing their evaluated information systems. The development of the Center followed calls for such standards from the Secretary of Health and Human Services Commission on Nursing in 1988, the ANA Council on Computer Applications in Nursing (CCAN) in 1988, and the National Commission on Nursing Implementation Project (NICNIP) in 1994. No other group has developed standards related to nursing data and to information systems. As a result, there has been great diversity in the depth and quality of nursing-related data sets supplied by vendors with their systems. NIDSECSM was proposed by a joint task force appointed by the ANA Congress of Nursing Practice Steering Committee on Databases to Support Clinical Nursing Practice and the ANA Congress of Nursing Practice Committee on Nursing Practice Standards and Guidelines. For further information on NIDSECSM, contact D. Kathleen Milholland, PhD, RN, Senior Policy Fellow, ANA Office of Nursing Practice, at 202- 651-7060 (phone), kmilholl@ana.org (e-mail), or 202-651-7008 (fax). To obtain the NIDSECSM Standards and Scoring Guidelines, contact ANA Publications at 1+800-637-0323. For information on obtaining the NIDSECSM Application Packet, contact Yvonne Humes in the ANA Office of Nursing Practice at 202-651-7070 (phone), yhumes@ana.org (e-mail), or 202-651-7008 (fax). The American Nurses Association is the only full-service professional organization representing the nation's 2.6 million Registered Nurses through its 53 constituent associations. ANA advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the work place, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and lobbying the Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.
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