New grad please excuse the silly question

[lsafy]

Just bare with me please...I was curious if there is a website that I can place all pt's abnormals upon assessment and it come up with possible diagnosis? For example...I will use heart failure because I already know the signs and symptoms. Lets say I did my assessment and pt has edema on feet bilaterally and SOB. I know to put pt HOB up and feet down. What if I did not know that these symptoms were for this condition? I would like to place those s/s in the computer and it gives me possible diagnosis that may be at hand. Does that make sense? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.:)

[teeniebert, LPN]

I know WebMD has a symptom checker but I don't know how useful that would be as a nursing tool.

*disclaimer*

I am not a doctor. Neither is WebMD. I cannot diagnose a medical condition. Neither can WebMD.

*/disclaimer*

[WhiteScrubs]

Hmmm... don't know any website that does this (haven't looked), but shouldn't this information be in the chart? As a nurse, your job is not to diagnose.

Once you have the correct diagnosis, there are plenty of resources that tell you appropriate nursing interventions -- Lippincott's is a fairly widely accepted resource, but there are others...

Maybe I don't understand the question -- why do you want to diagnose your patients from their symptoms?

[AprilN, BSN, RN]

Agreed- you aren't the one diagnosing, the physician will be. Are you talking about Nursing Diagnosis? If so, get a book! I have Mosby's and its great!

[nicetomeetyou]

Well we dont diagnose as nurses, but physicians arent always aware of everything, so if the patient did start developing edema on their feet and SOB thats information that needs to be passed on

[AprilN, BSN, RN]

I agree- however those are symptoms/changes in condition, not diagnosis. You wouldn't tell the physician that the pt has developed CHF, but rather the symptoms that you have observed. KWIM? It's not within our scope of practice as nurses to do so.