Classifying nursing care to improve patient outcomes: The example of WISECARE

Abstract

Currently, the vast majority of nursing practice is not assessed in any quantifiable manner, making it difficult to demonstrate explicitly the value of nursing to cancer care. This results from the lack of any meaningful or universal system or language that makes visible what nurses 'do'. As a consequence, nursing is often deemed invisible in terms of its importance in healthcare. A model for classifying nursing care may therefore address this situation, making nursing visible not just to policymakers but also to patients. This paper highlights the need for clarity in classifying nursing practice and presents a potential solution through the Workflow Information Systems for European Nursing Care (WISECARE) project. WISECARE was an EC-funded project which utilised state of the art information technology to develop an information tool which allowed a systematic approach to nursing practice through the classification of patient problems.