A Problem Well-Named is a Problem Half-Solved: Usefulness of Nursing Diagnosis as a Way to Teach Emergency Nursing

Abstract

Patients presenting to the emergency department are generally unknown and potentially acutely ill; there is not the same understanding of the patient problem as in inpatient nursing, where the patient has been evaluated and assigned a medical diagnosis. Teaching nurses new to the emergency department how to quickly identify life-threatening problems is challenging, as it requires a mental shift from the diagnosis-based care of inpatient nursing to a symptomatic presentation orientation. In this article, I will present the case for nursing diagnosis as a way to orient nurses new to the emergency department in thinking about patient problems and immediate interventions. Lisa Adams Wolf, Member, Pioneer Valley Chapter, is a Director, Emergency Nursing Research, Emergency Nurses Association, Schaumburg, IL; and an Associate Professor, Elaine Marieb College of Nursing, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA. Twitter: @LisaWol97737411. ORCID identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7065-470X.