Abstract

Language standardization can foster the expansion of nursing knowledge, enhance development of health information systems, facilitate determination of the cost of nursing services, enable planning for resource needs, and improve nursing education. As public health professionals strive to clarify their roles and functions in the rapidly changing health care arena, emphasizing health promotion, disease prevention and community-based and system level care, a standardized language will describe the mission of public health nurses more clearly and make it more visible to consumers and providers. This article describes how a recently developed standardized language for public health nursing reflects the core public health functions.

 

Key Words: standardized language; public health nursing; nursing classification; clinical documentation; public health functions