Developing a unified language for children's nurses, children and their families in the United Kingdom

This paper presents a taxonomy of Infant, Child and Adolescent (ICA) nursing diagnoses and clinical outcomes that has been developed with the co-operation of nurses caring for children in the United Kingdom. Three focus group interviews were conducted in one acute care NHS trust in London (referred to as the host trust in this paper) in 1998/99, in which participants were asked to consider nursing and family factors relevant for identifying and providing care. A total of 28 ICA diagnoses, including definitions, defining characteristics and outcomes, were identified for clinical testing and included in the ICA taxonomy. The ICA diagnostic labels and outcomes for care were further tested for their relevance for clinical practice in a Delphi Survey carried out in 1999 and their use in clinical practice began in 1999. This research augments the findings from an initial Delphi survey carried out in 1993 and case study research in 1996. The previous research initiated the development of a unified language for children's nurses, children and their families, to aid communication and decision-making. Implications of this and future research for clinical practice, nationally and internationally, are also discussed.