Nursing diagnoses commonly documented for emergency patients

The problem of study was the validation, by emergency nurses, of investigator generated nursing diagnoses occurring in ill or injured emergency patients. Research questions were: What is the frequency of occurrence, as estimated by emergency nurses, of selected investigator generated (actual or potential) unhealthful responses and selected investigator generated nursing diagnoses in ill or injured emergency patients? What additional etiologies are associated with the selected investigator generated (actual or potential) unhealthful responses in ill or injured emergency patients as identified by emergency nurses? To what extent are those additional etiologies associated with the independent or interdependent role?

The study used the descriptive design. The setting was 59 local chapter meetings of the Emergency Nurses' Association. The population consisted of emergency nurses who were members of the chapters. Ten questionnaires were mailed to each selected chapter (590 questionnaires) and 245 questionnaires were returned (42%).

Four investigator generated instruments were used to collect the data: the Demographic Data Sheet, the Response Component Questionnaire, the Etiology Component Survey, and the Etiology Evaluation Questionnaire. The first three instruments were completed by the sample; the last, by a panel of experts in nursing diagnosis.

The following findings are discussed. Forty percent of the sample stated they had never been taught to write nursing diagnoses. Forty-seven percent stated they were taught to write nursing diagnoses in their basic nursing programs. None of the response components or nursing diagnoses were observed in greater than 50% of patients by the majority of subjects. Responses were recognized as occurring in patients by more subjects than were actual diagnoses. A total of 887 different etiologies were generated under the Additional Etiologies section, and 311 (35%) were found to represent independent role. Four of the six most frequently seen response components in greater than 50% of patients were part of the six most frequently seen nursing diagnoses. The least frequently seen response component was part of the least frequently seen nursing diagnosis. One of the most frequently seen response components in greater than 50% of patients was included in one of the least frequently seen nursing diagnoses. (short version of Abstract)