Objective: Archetypes as structured models of clinical content are considered to be the key broker between the reference models and terminology. This study developed and validated archetypes for nursing problems with breast cancer patients.

Methods: Archetypes were developed with the focuses and characterizing categories to describe the nursing problems identified from the perioperative nursing records of breast cancer patients, a literature review and experts' survey. The archetypes were validated by experts and applied to the clinical cases.

Results: Forty seven focuses and 22 characterizing categories of nursing problems were identified. Forty five archetypes, except for the symptoms of URI and vital signs, could be grouped into 16 different types. The symptoms of URI and vital signs were modeled by a combination of other archetypes. The experts' evaluation and application to clinical cases demonstrated the validity of the archetypes developed.

Conclusion: Archetypes for nursing problems developed in this study can ensure interoperability and contribute to the exchange and sharing of the high quality structured data and information.