The Utilization Of Nursing Diagnoses By Registered Nurses

Nursing diagnoses are a critical part of the nursing process and have been a large part of nursing education and clinical documentation for more than 30 years. Utilization of nursing diagnoses in practice is largely unknown because of lack of published research on the topic. The purpose of this study was 1) to examine the self reported utilization of nursing diagnoses by registered nurses and 2) to examine the attitudes of registered nurses towards nursing diagnoses. Most of the participants (93 percent) were advanced practice nurses (APN), educated beyond the bachelor degree level. Both utilization variables in this study displayed a slight tendency by subjects against the use of nursing diagnoses in practice. Utilization of nursing diagnoses was significantly correlated with the participant's personal attitude towards nursing diagnoses (rs = 0.65, p 0.001).