Student Resources: Nursing Diagnosis

How do nursing diagnoses fit in the nursing process and why are they so critical to safe, effective nursing care? Student Forums General Students Article

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Student Resources: Nursing Diagnosis

A nursing diagnosis is a clinical judgment about individual, family, or community responses to actual and/or potential health problems or life processes. A medical diagnosis, on the other hand, is the identification of a disease based on its signs and symptoms.

The professional practice of nursing is the diagnosing and treatment of these basic human responses. Nurses need a common language to describe the human responses of individuals, families, and communities to health threats. NANDA strives to classify in a scientific manner these basic human responses.

Nursing diagnoses are based on assessment data and are classified under the concepts of ingestion, digestion, absorption, metabolism, urinary/gastrointestinal elimination, sleep/rest, activity/exercises, energy balance, sexuality, post trauma responses, comfort, and growth and development.

Identification of human responses to health problems and life processes is the basis for the nurses' decisions on how to best intervene to help people heal or improve their quality of life. With nursing diagnoses, emphasis is placed upon achievement of the client's maximum health potential. The nurse gathers the assessment data and from this data, identifies high-priority nursing diagnoses. The nursing diagnoses then provide the basis for selection of nursing interventions to achieve outcomes for which the nurse is accountable.

The patient (not the nurse) is central to the nursing process. The nursing process involves looking at the whole patient at all times. It personalizes the patient. Nursing care needs to be directed at all times for improving outcomes for the patient.

In order to tailor the nursing process to the patient, you need to identify the patient's problems related to the objective and subjective assessment data. Then you need to formulate a nursing diagnosis for each of these problems. You will also prioritize the problems in formulating your plan and goals (according to the ABC's and Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs).

Nursing diagnoses are written in "PES" format

  • "P" stands for problem
  • "E" stands for etiology or cause of problem
  • "S" stands signs and symptoms of problem

However, if you identify a high-priority "risk for" nursing diagnosis, then you do not put the signs and symptoms (in other words, no "aeb"). How can you have evidence (signs and symptoms) for something that is only a risk and not a manifested problem?

Nursing goals are simply the antithesis of the nursing diagnostic statement with a reasonable time frame. In other words, diagnostic statements are "problems" (negative). goals are "positive" (turn the nursing diagnostic statement around). If the nursing diagnosis is "Risk for Infection R/T..." for instance, then the goal statement might be "Client will not experience infection throughout hospital stay AEB clear lung sounds, afebrile, WBC count between 5,000 and 11,000, wound site well approximated with no purulent drainage." Goal statements always begin with "The patient/ client will..." and have a specified time element.

Nursing interventions are the "meat and gravy" of the nursing process and flow from the "etiology" part of the nursing diagnostic statement. Nursing interventions are either independent (such as teaching/learning or safety) or collaborative/ dependent (require a physician's order, such as administration of medications). The nurse must use his or her critical thinking skills to plan, coordinate, and implement nursing interventions, and then evaluate the effect of these interventions in achieving the desired patient goal. Nursing interventions always begin with "Student nurse will..." or "Nurse will..." and are very specific, as well as being realistic to the client situation (not just "cookie-cutter" interventions copied from a nursing care plan book).

Nursing interventions must be backed up with a scientific rationale - otherwise, this action is just your opinion and has no merit. Remember, everything in nursing must be evidenced-based. Provide a citation for your scientific rationale, in APA 6th Edition Format, from a peer-reviewed source: professional journal, textbook, lecture.

When evaluating your goals, you need to state specifically: goal met, goal not met, goal partially met, or unable to evaluate goal due to time constraints. If the latter is the case (unable to evaluate goal due to time constraints), then you need to state what outcome criteria would be needed in order to state goal met. In other words, if I were present (at specified time element), I would look for the following outcome criteria in order to state, "goal met." Then you list the desired outcome criteria. Remember, you are evaluating the goals, not the interventions.

So you see, it is an orderly, evidenced-based process and not that difficult with practice. Nurses cannot know what interventions to select or which outcomes to project unless they have accurate representations of what patients are experiencing (using a common reference language, NANDA).

References

NANDA Nursing Diagnoses

Nursing Diagnoses 2012 - 2014.pdf

VickyRN, PhD, RN, is a certified nurse educator (NLN) and certified gerontology nurse (ANCC). Her research interests include: the special health and social needs of the vulnerable older adult population; registered nurse staffing and resident outcomes in intermediate care nursing facilities; and, innovations in avoiding institutionalization of frail elderly clients by providing long-term care services and supports in the community. She is a Professor in a large baccalaureate nursing program in North Carolina.

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Specializes in L&D.

Great concise review of Nursing Diagnoses!

As a clinical instructor grading care plans each week, I often encounter students who haven't understood the difference between nursing diagnosis and medical diagnosis. This will assist me in explaining the differences! Thanks.

Specializes in Gerontological, cardiac, med-surg, peds.
HazeKomp said:
Great concise review of Nursing Diagnoses!

As a clinical instructor grading care plans each week, I often encounter students who haven't understood the difference between nursing diagnosis and medical diagnosis. This will assist me in explaining the differences! Thanks.

Glad this will be helpful to you, HazeKomp ?

Specializes in Dialysis.

It reminds me to IEPs that are written for special ed students. They describe the student, their particular needs and their goals.

The accomodations/modifications name the steps to make learning/life easier for the student. The goals are stated and rated according to that same scale.

Greetings,

Interesting piece.

As you guys are experts and I am but a student I would like to ask a few questions.

1. Why is it that doctors and nurses have a different set of terminology? It seems to me that this may cause confusion with the patient.

2. Can you please define energy disturbance and what specific scientific rationale would be used to support said diagnosis.

3. Is a patients sexuality really anyones business? Unless the patient specifically asks us a question related to sexuality.

Thanks for the input~

Specializes in Gerontological, cardiac, med-surg, peds.
mindlor said:

Greetings,

Interesting piece.

As you guys are experts and i am but a student i would like to ask a few questions.

1. Why is it that doctors and nurses have a different set of terminology? It seems to me that this may cause confusion with the patient.

We have a different terminology or language, because we are a profession unique and set apart from medicine or the other allied health professions. Just as medicine has its own terminology, so does the profession of nursing.

Nursing diagnoses, interventions, and outcomes are meant to improve patient care and guide nurses in choosing the best interventions possible.

2. Can you please define energy disturbance and what specific scientific rationale would be used to support said diagnosis.

This has been discussed thoroughly elsewhere on the boards.

if you wish to discuss it, please reply to the existing thread or start another thread, as "energy disturbance" is not the subject of this blog. Thank you.

3. Is a patients sexuality really anyones business? Unless the patient specifically asks us a question related to sexuality.

Not the subject of this blog. (in other words, off topic.) if you wish to discuss it, do a search on allnurses for threads addressing this topic, or start another thread. Thank you.

Thanks for the input~

Hope this helps answer your questions.

Specializes in LTC.

Wow, that was great! This has been one of the hardest things for me to grasp. Your explanation will do wonders for me. Thank you SO very much!

Specializes in Gerontological, cardiac, med-surg, peds.
jrw03282009 said:
Wow, that was great! This has been one of the hardest things for me to grasp. Your explanation will do wonders for me. Thank you SO very much!

Glad this was helpful to you ?

Specializes in Pediatric Hem/Onc.

Seriously....I've been staring at my notes for an hour, and reading the book.....and pulling out my hair trying to figure this all out while contemplating a career change. My instructor said it would take lots of practice before we'd "get" it, but I HATE feeling so lost. That single post helped to clear up my thinking a lot.

Thank you thank you thank you!!!!

Specializes in Gerontological, cardiac, med-surg, peds.
Shanfuturenurse said:

Seriously....I've been staring at my notes for an hour, and reading the book.....and pulling out my hair trying to figure this all out while contemplating a career change. My instructor said it would take lots of practice before we'd "get" it, but I HATE feeling so lost. That single post helped to clear up my thinking a lot.

Thank you thank you thank you!!!! I

Glad this has helped you. Best wishes to you during nursing school ?

Ahhh, this is a great resource! I'm starting clinicals a week from Tuesday and this will be a great help. Thanks for posting :heartbeat

Specializes in Gerontological, cardiac, med-surg, peds.
ZoeZ said:
Ahhh, this is a great resource! I'm starting clinicals a week from Tuesday and this will be a great help. Thanks for posting :heartbeat

You're very welcome ?