Nursing diagnosis and nursing theory: exploration of factors inhibiting and supporting simultaneous use.

Abstract

To explore the values and philosophies of nursing theories that inhibit the simultaneous use of nursing diagnosis and nursing theory. Published articles, books, book chapters. Four factors in the literature and reflected in practice may have had a negative influence on the use of nursing diagnoses: (a) commitment to the uniqueness of each person, (b) an abandonment of the nursing process, (c) a perspective that nursing care is an evolving interaction, and (d) a belief that theory-derived language is more articulate and precise than standard classifications. Strategies for combining theory and diagnoses include emphasizing the diagnostic terms as professional shorthand and permitting flexibility in modifying diagnoses as needed; widely disseminating the concept that classification can be used effectively with newer iterations of the nursing process reflecting circular, simultaneous, and intuitive processes; developing classification language based on concepts of hypothesis and perception; and including diagnostic categories associated with theoretical perspectives.