Impact of an Educational Program on the Use of Standardized Nursing Languages for Nursing Documentation Among Public Health Nurses in Nigeria Patience Omonigho Odutayo, MSc (Nursing), RN, RM, RPHN, RNE, Adenike Ayobola Olaogun, PhD, RN, RM, RPHN, Abimbola Oyeninhun Oluwatosin, PhD, RN, RM, FWACN, and Adesola Adenike Ogunfowokan, PhD, RN, RM, RPHN, FWACN Patience Omonigho Odutayo, MSc (Nursing), RN, RM, RPHN, RNE, is the Principal at the School of Nursing, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, Nigeria; Adenike Ayobola Olaogun, PhD, RN, RM, RPHN, is an Associate Professor at the Department of Nursing Science, College of Health Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Nigeria; Abimbola Oyeninhun Oluwatosin, PhD, RN, RM, FWACN, is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Nursing Science, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria; and Adesola Adenike Ogunfowokan, PhD, RN, RM, RPHN, FWACN, is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Nursing Science, College of Health Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Nigeria. Search terms: Clients’ documentation, public health nurse, standardized nursing language Author contact: adenikeolaogun@gmail.com, with a copy to the Editor: journal@nanda.org PURPOSE: To measure the effect of an educational package on documentation of care among public health nurses (PHNs). METHOD: A quasi-experimental design was adopted. Forty PHNs working in primary healthcare settings were selected. Education was given through a 5-day workshop. Documentation of care was assessed using a modified “Muller-Staub Q-DIO instrument.” Data were analyzed using t test third and twelfth months postintervention. FINDINGS: There was a significant improvement on documentation of care at p = .0001. CONCLUSION: Educating PHNs and providing them with standardized nursing care plans enhance documentation of care. IMPLICATION TO PRACTICE: A combination of education on the use of stan- dardized nursing languages and standardized nursing care plans can enhance documentation of care. There is a need for more research on the use of standard- ized nursing languages in developing nations. Globally, nurses form an integral part of the healthcare system, but their contributions, particularly in the develop- ing nations, have been largely invisible because of poor documentation of care (Allen, Chapman, O’Connor, & Francis, 2007). According to Bostick, Riggs, and Rantz (2003), nurses’ documentation of the care that they give to clients, interventions used to treat the diagnoses, and the resulting outcome/responses are necessary for evaluation of care. Standardized nursing languages (SNLs) started with the development of NANDA-I diagnostic classifications. SNLs were developed to give the phenomena that represent the nursing process a name or label to make them visible (Farren, 2010). They provide uniform nomenclature for diagnosis, intervention, and evaluation components of the nursing process. When nurses are familiar with and are educated on the use of nursing classifications in documen- tation, client care that is unique to nursing can be better described and outcomes more clearly communicated. According to Dochterman and Bulechek (2004), SNLs have implications for competency evaluation, reimbursement for services, and curriculum design. They hold the potential to improve the quality of nursing care, guide policy, and assist nurses in articulating how their actions contribute to posi- tive health outcomes. However, in spite of the benefits of SNLs, Thoroddsen and Ehnfors (2007) observed that many nurses had not been taught to use them. Deficiencies in accurately stating and documenting nursing diagnoses, and relating them to nursing interventions and outcomes, have also been reported by Florin, Ehrenberg, and Ehnfors (2005). A lot of work has been done globally on the use of SNLs in hospital-based care (Muller-Stuab, Needham, Odenbreit, Lavin, & Achterberg, 2007; Olaogun, Oginni, Oyedeji, Nnahiwe, & Olatubi, 2011). According to Neufeld and bs_bs_banner 108 © 2013, The Authors International Journal of Nursing Knowledge © 2013, NANDA International International Journal of Nursing Knowledge Volume 24, No. 2, June 2013