[Linguistic confusion about nursing standards. A literature study]

This paper takes a close look at nursing publications that are concerned with the theoretical knowledge of "standards". The central question is: "What are the intentions and characteristics to which standards are linked in nursing literature?" Diverse definitions and synonyms of standards are discussed as well. There is a considerable irregularity in the terminology of standards and similar terms in the investigated literature. Therefore, the term "standard" is treated by the author as a general one that embraces many definitions and has to be differentiated for a closer approach. Thus, four different kinds of features have been developed in the course of the analytic work: "intentions", "range of validity", "contents" and "structure". These four areas form a basis for a more definite description of the various kinds of standards. Based on her findings, the author give recommendations on how the actual linguistic confusion can be effectively dealt with.