r/t

Let me also add that the "Related to" or "R/t" part of the nursing diagnostic statement is the etiology, or cause, of the nursing diagnosis (nursing problem). The construction of nursing diagnostic statements consists of two or three parts linked by these shorthand abbreviations to save space. This is how your nursing instructors will require you to diagnose nursing conditions in your patients. Later as a licensed nurse on a job you will see and write care plans using these abbreviations. Here is an example:

• Acute pain r/t surgical intervention aeb complaint of abdominal pain of 8 on a scale 10 and keeping the legs drawn up to the chest

This can also be written out as

• Acute pain related to surgical intervention as evidenced by complaint of abdominal pain of 8 on a scale 10 and keeping the legs drawn up to the chest

What this statement is telling us is the following information:

• Problem: acute pain - this is the nursing problem that was identified by the nurse and has been stated as a nanda nursing diagnosis
• Etiology (cause): surgical intervention - the cause of the problem is being told to us was that the patient was cut into surgically (that is what the words "surgical intervention" mean)
• Symptoms: (1)complaint of abdominal pain of 8 on a scale 10, (2) keeping the legs drawn up to the chest - this is the evidence that the nurse collected through their assessment of the patient that proves and supports that pain exists