Charting the course with the PNDS

PPerioperative nurses practice in a specialized setting that distinguishes it from other nursing disciplines. A specialized language developed by a professional perioperative nursing organization highlights the vast body of nursing knowledge and critical thinking skills necessary for the delivery of safe, quality surgical care. The Perioperative Nursing Data Set (PNDS) is a communication tool that defines and clarifies the day-to-day practice of perioperative nurses. Effective communication among providers via the patient record, whether paper or electronic, is crucial to patient safety. Yet, documentation omissions and misinterpretations are often the root cause of errors in patient care. The PNDS, validated in 1999 by the American Nurses Association (ANA) and one of only