Formulating and Validating Nursing Diagnosis II

The nursing diagnosis has three parts. It includes a problem statement, disease etiology, and defining characteristics of signs and symptoms.

The problem statement emphasizes the patient's health status.

The etiology documents one or more probable causes of these health issues.

Defining characteristics states the signs and symptoms of the diagnosis.

The nursing diagnoses are categorized into actual, risk, wellness, and syndrome.

The actual diagnosis is formulated during the initial assessment of  the patient's problem: for example, "impaired swallowing."

The nurse recognizes the risk of the patient's vulnerability to disease and states the risk diagnosis—for example, "risk of falls."

The wellness diagnosis identifies the human response and readiness to enhance wellness as an individual, family, or community. For example, an expecting mother's "readiness to enhance parenting."

A syndrome diagnosis is a group of nursing diagnoses framed together as one, such as "Relocation Stress Syndrome."

Finally, the nurse may verify the formulated diagnosis with the patient's health history through evidence-based knowledge and clinical experience.