Learning nursing diagnoses is crucial to get the job one wants in the nursing field. Nursing school is highly competitive and only the top students are given the best jobs. It is important to learn every part of the nursing process to become a highly coveted nursing school graduate. Learning the various nursing diagnoses is crucial for every nursing student or prospective nursing student.
Definition and Etymology
A diagnosis is the art or act of identifying a disease from its signs and symptoms. The etymology is derived from the Greek stem diagignoskein meaning discern and distinguish. When seeking to enter a career in the medical field it is important to know the difference between a nursing diagnosis and a medical diagnosis. Both diagnoses are geared toward patient care. However, a medical diagnosis involves the process of treating a patient through dealing with his condition or disease; a nursing diagnosis uses a patient’s response to various stimuli and health issues. An ailment of a hypothetical patient can be used to distinguish the difference between the two:
Medical Diagnosis vs. Nursing Diagnosis – Example
A patient is complaining of a cough and trouble with breathing. A medical doctor could diagnose the patient as having pneumonia. A nurse would diagnose the same patient as being fatigued and having an exchange of gas that is impaired. Medical diagnoses focus on what condition the patient has and nursing diagnoses focus on what types of problems the patient’s condition is causing.
NANDA – International
The implementation of a nursing diagnosis is held to very strict standards. In fact, NANDA-International, formerly the North American Nursing Diagnosis Association, is an organization that works to create highly standardized levels of nursing diagnoses. This organization provides the most widely used set of nursing diagnoses and integrates terminology that is empirically proven to be effective with in-field nursing practice. The organization generates its own research funding to achieve its goals and offers a large nurse network that spans the globe.
Nursing Diagnosis Categories
All NANDA-International nursing diagnoses fall into four different categories:
1. Actual Nursing Diagnosis – “A clinical judgment about human experience/responses to health conditions/life processes that exist in an individual, family, or community.”
2. Health-Promotion Nursing Diagnosis – “A clinical judgment about a person’s, family’s, or community’s motivation and desire to increase wellbeing and actualize human health potential as expressed in the readiness to enhance specific health behaviors, and can be used in any health state.”
3. Risk Nursing Diagnosis – “Describes human responses to health conditions/life processes that may develop in a vulnerable individual/family/community. It is supported by risk factors that contribute to increased vulnerability.”
4. Syndrome Diagnosis – “A clinical judgment describing a specific cluster of nursing diagnoses that occur together, and are best addressed together and through similar interventions.”
The Nursing Process
A nursing diagnosis is one part of the larger nursing process. The nursing process is a five step process that provides a framework of care for a patient:
1. Assessment – Data is collected, clustered, and validated.
2. Diagnosis – Diagnostic reasoning is used to form conclusions about the collected data to find out what a patient needs for effective care to be delivered.
3. Planning – An effective care plan is created.
4. Implementation – The care plan is acted upon.
5. Evaluation – The results of the care plan are compared to the goals of the plan
Conclusion
The nursing diagnosis is a critical part of any care plan and is strictly standardized by NANDA. Nursing students are required to learn countless nursing diagnoses in order to write effective care plans. In order to make outstanding grades in nursing school, get a great nursing job, and ultimately be an effective nurse, accurate knowledge of nursing diagnoses are crucial.
References & Resources
NANDA (North American Nursing Diagnosis Association)
Assessment, Clinical judgment, and Nursing Diagnoses: How to Determine Accurate Diagnoses – Lunney, M. (2009)
Nursing Diagnoses 2009 – 2011: Definitions and Classification – T. Heather Herdman, North American Nursing Diagnosis Association
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