Standardized clinical data offer new opportunities for community health nursing research. A multi-site study was completed to describe the nature of surveillance as a nursing intervention among three community nursing centers that used the Automated Community Health Information System. This system incorporated the Omaha Classification System of standardized nursing diagnoses, interventions, and outcomes. The focus of this study was on the nursing intervention of surveillance. Surveillance is defined as detection, measurement, critical analysis, and monitoring to indicate client status in relation to a given condition or phenomena. The sample included 1,506 unduplicated clients who received care in 1995, during 5,248 encounters, at three urban nursing centers. Surveillance was a frequent nursing intervention; it made up 27.1% of all interventions (n=7,557), and 68.5% of the clients received surveillance. There was a significant relationship between the provision of surveillance and age range (x2 [5, n=1,427]=211.96, p=<.001, V=.385), and surveillance and gender (x2 [1, n=1,501]=17.90, p=<.001, f=.109). The two most frequent diagnoses for surveillance related to circulation and nutrition. Health promotion and disease prevention diagnoses were more likely to prompt surveillance intervention. Surveillance was provided in response to specific health states, and linked to age and developmental risk factors. The challenges and opportunities of using standardized clinical data in research will be discussed including issues of reliability, validity, nursing classification systems, and multi-site studies.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant in this session will be able to: 1. List the benefits of using standardized clinical data for research. 2. Examine an example of multi-site research using standardized clinical data. 3. Describe the reliability and validity issues of using standardized clinical data for reserach. 4. Identify actions that community health nurses and administrators can implement to enhance research utilization of clinical data
Keywords: Nurse Managed Centers, Public Health Research
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.