2．International Standards for Nursing Terminology―Effects on Nursing Diagnosis

The Need for Terminology Standards

　The holy scriptures of Jews and Christians tell the story of the Tower of Babel¹⁾. According to this story, there was an ancient time when all people spoke the same language. The people became very haughty, believing that their powers were like those of God. They said to one another, “Let us build a tower rising up to heaven, so that we may go up and down as we please.”With great cooperation they began to build the tower, and every day it rose higher. Their pride, however, was displeasing to God. One day when the people awoke and went to the tower, they found that they could no longer understand one another. Everyone spoke a different language! They could no longer work together on the tower, which grew no taller. The people were dispersed across the earth, speaking a different language in every region.

　This ancient legend provides a metaphor for the terminology of nursing and health care. When people in different parts of the world wish to work together―for research, for example, or for clinical consultation―we are hindered by differences in our“natural language,”the way we speak and write. Even within one nation and language group, differences in the words we use to record clinical events limit our ability to communicate with one another.