Help with nursing diagnoses

[ruthanne87]

Hi everyone! I really need some help wording my nursing diagnoses. Okay....my patient has charcot's foot and she also has peripheral neuropathy and has difficulty feeling in her legs and feet. She still transfers herself from her recliner to her wheel chair to use the bathroom along with other ADLs. She fell about two weeks ago in the bathroom and was not injured. So my diagnoses so far is Risk for falls R/T altered mobility and impaired sensory function secondary to charcot's foot and peripheral neuropathy. I'm not sure if that makes sense tho, or if there is a better way to put it????

[dura_mater]

To my knowledge, you can't use a medical dx in a nursing dx. So you will need to remove the charcots foot & peripherial neuropathy.

We were always taught to put things like: "Risk for falls R/T altered mobility and impaired sensory function manifested by pt c/o pain, numbness, tingling in foot (etc.)"

Hope this helps

[ruthanne87]

Okay thank you so much! Well my teachers did tell me that; however, they said that we could put a doctor's dx if we put "secondary to" then put it. But maybe I misunderstood. I have turned in careplans with nursing diagnoses like that, but I will definately ask my instructors to make sure. Thank you!

[dura_mater]

Most definitely, do it how your instructors want you to.