Toward standardization (Part 2): National nursing minimum data sets consensus building and implementation status.

With the passage of the Affordable Care Act and the development of a National Workforce Commission, multiple entities have increased their interest in collecting standardized health care workforce data at the state and national levels. In a tight budget environment, developing data sets which collect the minimum needed information that is necessary for workforce planning and supply/demand projections has become critically needed. This article represents the second of a two part series describing the work that the Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers has undertaken during the last 3 years toward standardizing nursing workforce data.