Nursing diagnoses are clinical judgments about individual, family, or community responses to actual or potential health problems or life processes. The North American Nursing Diagnosis Association (NANDA) provides a standardized framework for nursing diagnoses, which can be categorized into various types. The main types of nursing diagnoses are:
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Actual Nursing Diagnoses: These reflect human responses to health conditions or life processes that have been validated by the presence of major signs and symptoms. For example:
- Pain (acute)
- Ineffective breathing pattern
- Impaired physical mobility
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Risk Nursing Diagnoses: These identify potential problems that are likely to develop if preventative measures are not taken. They do not have defining characteristics but are based on risk factors. For example:
- Risk for infection
- Risk for falls
- Risk for impaired skin integrity
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Health Promotion Diagnoses: These diagnoses focus on the desire for enhanced well-being and can be applied to individuals, families, or communities. They are often related to the patient’s motivation and readiness to enhance their health. For example:
- Readiness for enhanced self-care
- Readiness for enhanced nutrition
- Readiness for enhanced coping
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Syndrome Nursing Diagnoses: These involve a cluster of actual or risk diagnoses that are predicted to occur due to a specific event or situation. For example:
- Post-trauma syndrome
- Chronic pain syndrome
- Acute confusion syndrome
Additional Considerations:
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Problem-Focused Diagnoses: This is another term often used synonymously with actual nursing diagnoses, where the focus is on existing problems with specific defining characteristics.
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Collaborative Diagnoses: While not nursing diagnoses per se, these involve collaboration with other healthcare professionals concerning health problems that require both nursing interventions and medical treatment.
Each type of nursing diagnosis serves to guide nursing care and interventions to lead to improved patient outcomes. Proper assessment and formulation of nursing diagnoses are essential for effective patient management.