Nursing diagnosis: a tool to written care planning

The effect of the introduction of a workshop on nursing diagnosis and the diagnostic process on the skills in identifying patient problems/diagnoses and intervention from an identical case study was evaluated in 48 nurses employed at the Veterans' Administration Medical Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Nurses were randomly assigned to three groups, two designated as experimental groups, and one as a control group. Group A received a workshop and utilized a list of currently accepted nursing diagnoses to develop their problem list. Group B received only a list of currently accepted nursing diagnoses. Group C, the control group, received no manipulation by the investigator. There was no statistical support for the hypotheses that the workshop would result in differences in the number and significance of the problems and intervention listed by the three groups. However, Group A identified few problems and interventions from the case study with less utilization of medical diagnoses or signs and symptoms. There was greater degree of concurrence between Group A's list of nursing diagnoses and interventions and the panel of experts' list of nursing diagnoses and interventions than between the other two groups. Group A was more specific and concise about the problems they identified and the interventions they planned than the other two groups.