Development of a subset of ICNP Nursing Diagnoses for the promotion of self-care in people with diabetes mellitus: a multi-center observational study.

INTRODUCTION: Self-care is a key for people with diabetes mellitus (DM) to avoid severe complications and to maintain quality of life. Person-centered and accurate nursing care plans can help nurses to deliver effective self-care promotion interventions. Few studies focused on nursing diagnoses that are specific for diabetes self-care education, and none of them used the International Classification for Nursing Practice (ICNP). International Catalogues of ICNP nursing diagnoses are missing in this field. AIMS: To identify the ICNP nursing diagnoses that are useful to promote self-care in people with DM; to describe the prevalence of ICNP nursing diagnoses in self-care of people with DM. METHODS: A subset of 55 ICNP nursing diagnoses was developed based on the Middle Range Theory of Self-care of Chronic Illness, and most recent diabetes clinical guidelines. Then, the subset was tested through a multicenter cross-sectional design involving a consecutive sample of 170 adults with confirmed diagnosis of Type 1 or Type 2 DM. Data were collected by medical records, physical examinations and semi-structured interviews. RESULTS: 1343 nursing diagnoses were identified, with an average of 8 nursing diagnoses per patient. The 100% of the nursing diagnoses were described using the pre-developed subset. Overall, the five prevalent nursing diagnoses were: Body weight problem (56.4%), Non adherence to immunization regime (53.5%), Conflicting attitude toward dietary regime (41.7%), Impaired weight monitoring (39.4%), and Lack of knowledge about blood glucose diagnostic test result (32.3%). Nursing diagnoses by self-care maintenance, monitoring and management were also described. CONCLUSIONS: A huge amount of nursing diagnoses was identified suggesting the need of intensive education. Clinicians and administrators can use this subset to improve the accuracy of the documentation of diabetes care. In Public Health, the subset can be used to assess the cost-effectiveness of diabetes healthcare services. Future research is needed to assess the effectiveness of this subset in settings that are different from the one where it was developed. Finally, this subset could be a starting point to develop and International ICNP Catalogue for diabetes care.

Nurses' characteristics and practice environments: Comparison between clusters with different attitude and utilisation profiles regarding nursing diagnosis.

AIM: To identify clusters of nurses in relation to the utilisation and attitude towards nursing diagnosis and to compare their profiles considering demographics, professional characteristics and nursing practice environments. BACKGROUND: Nursing diagnosis has benefits for both patients and nurses, and the attitude of nurses towards nursing diagnosis has been proposed as a determinant of its use. Therefore, an adequate understanding of nurses' attitude and utilisation profiles regarding nursing diagnosis is essential for the nursing managers who want to adopt nursing diagnosis as a practice framework. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey design was used. A sample of 239 nurses working in the Catalan primary health care system were categorised into clusters with similar attitude and utilisation profiles, which were compared with each other a posteriori. RESULTS: Nursing managers were grouped into more positive attitude clusters than clinical nurses. Nurses working in supportive nursing practice environments were classified into more positive attitude and higher utilisation clusters. CONCLUSION: The field of work and nursing practice environments were found as differential factors in profiles of nurses with different attitudes towards and/or utilisation of nursing diagnosis. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: The promotion of supportive nursing practice environments could enhance the implementation and maintenance of nursing diagnosis as a practice framework in primary health care.

Nurses' beliefs about nursing diagnosis: A study with cluster analysis.

AIMS: To identify clusters of nurses in relation to their beliefs about nursing diagnosis among two populations (Italian and Spanish); to investigate differences among clusters of nurses in each population considering the nurses' socio-demographic data, attitudes towards nursing diagnosis, intentions to make nursing diagnosis and actual behaviours in making nursing diagnosis. BACKGROUND: Nurses' beliefs concerning nursing diagnosis can influence its use in practice but this is still unclear. DESIGN: A cross-sectional design. METHODS: A convenience sample of nurses in Italy and Spain was enrolled. Data were collected between 2014-2015 using tools, that is, a socio-demographic questionnaire and behavioural, normative and control beliefs, attitudes, intentions and behaviours scales. RESULTS: The sample included 499 nurses (272 Italians & 227 Spanish). Of these, 66.5% of the Italian and 90.7% of the Spanish sample were female. The mean age was 36.5 and 45.2 years old in the Italian and Spanish sample respectively. Six clusters of nurses were identified in Spain and four in Italy. Three clusters were similar among the two populations. Similar significant associations between age, years of work, attitudes towards nursing diagnosis, intentions to make nursing diagnosis and behaviours in making nursing diagnosis and cluster membership in each population were identified. CONCLUSION: Belief profiles identified unique subsets of nurses that have distinct characteristics. Categorizing nurses by belief patterns may help administrators and educators to tailor interventions aimed at improving nursing diagnosis use in practice.

Prevalence of nursing diagnoses as a measure of nursing complexity in a hospital setting.

AIMS: To describe the prevalence of nursing diagnoses on admission among inpatient units and medical diagnoses and to analyse the relationship of nursing diagnoses to patient characteristics and hospital outcomes. BACKGROUND: Nursing diagnoses classify patients according to nursing dependency and can be a measure of nursing complexity. Knowledge regarding the prevalence of nursing diagnoses on admission and their relationship with hospital outcomes is lacking. DESIGN: Prospective observational study. METHODS: Data were collected for 6 months in 2014 in four inpatient units of an Italian hospital using a nursing information system and the hospital discharge register. Nursing diagnoses with prevalence higher or equal to 20% were considered as 'high frequency.' Nursing diagnoses with statistically significant relationships with either higher mortality or length of stay were considered as 'high risk.' The high-frequency/high-risk category of nursing diagnoses was identified. RESULTS: The sample included 2283 patients. A mean of 4·5 nursing diagnoses per patient was identified; this number showed a statistically significant difference among inpatient units and medical diagnoses. Six nursing diagnoses were classified as high frequency/high risk. Nursing diagnoses were not correlated with patient gender and age. A statistically significant perfect linear association (Spearman's correlation coefficient) was observed between the number of nursing diagnoses and both the length of stay and the mortality rate. CONCLUSION: Nursing complexity, as described by nursing diagnoses, was shown to be associated with length of stay and mortality. These results should be confirmed after considering other variables through multivariate analyses. The concept of high-frequency/high-risk nursing diagnoses should be expanded in further studies.

Categorization of Ischemic Stroke Patients Compared with National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale.

INTRODUCTION: Scientific guidelines recommend the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) for ischemic stroke (IS) assessment. In Clinical Department of Neurology of Split University Hospital Center nurses use the categorization of patients (COP) according to individual needs for health care. AIM: The aim of this study was to demonstrate that there is a positive correlation between the COP and the NIHSS in IS patients. METHODS: We analyzed NIHSS scores and COP findings in 325 participants (median age 77 years, min-max: 37-95 years) with acute ISs. RESULTS: There is a statistically significant correlation between the NIHSS score at admission and COP at admission (ρ=0.717; P<0.001). There is a statistically significant correlation between the NIHSS score at discharge and COP at discharge (ρ=0.762; P<0.001). Median of NIHSS scores at admission is higher in females than in males for 2 (Z=4.45, P<0.001) and at discharge is higher for 2 (Z = 4.1, P<0.001). Median of COP at admission is higher in females than in males for 1 (Z=4.7, P<0.001) and at discharge is the same (Z=4.7, P<0.001). CONCLUSION: There is a significant association of NIHSS scores and COP in IS patients. This association exists at admission and at discharge from the hospital.

Infomarkers for transition to goals consistent with palliative care in dying patients.

OBJECTIVE: Electronic health records (EHRs) may contain infomarkers that identify patients near the end of life for whom it would be appropriate to shift care goals to palliative care. Discovery and use of such infomarkers could be used to conduct effectiveness research that ultimately could help to reduce the monumental cost of caring for the dying. The aim of our study was to identify changes in the plans of care that represent infomarkers, which signal a transition of care goals from nonpalliative care ones to those consistent with palliative care. METHOD: Using an existing electronic health record database generated during a two-year longitudinal study of nine diverse medical-surgical units from four Midwest hospitals and a known group approach, we evaluated patient care episodes for 901 patients who died (mean age = 74.5 ± 14.6 years). We used ANOVA and Tukey's post-hoc tests to compare patient groups. RESULTS: We identified 11 diagnoses, including Death Anxiety and Anticipatory Grieving, whose addition to the care plan, some of which also occurred with removal of nonpalliative care diagnoses, represent infomarkers of transition to palliative care goals. There were four categories of patients, those who had: no infomarkers on plans (n = 507), infomarkers added on the admission plan (n = 194), infomarkers added on a post-admission plan (minor transitions, n = 109), and infomarkers added and nonpalliative care diagnoses removed on a post-admission plan (major transition, n = 91). Age, length of stay, and pain outcomes differed significantly for these four categories of patients. SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS: EHRs contain pertinent infomarkers that if confirmed in future studies could be used for timely referral to palliative care for improved focus on comfort outcomes and to identify palliative care subjects from data repositories in order to conduct big-data research, comparative effectiveness studies, and health-services research.

Symptoms overlooked in hospitalized cancer patients: Impact of concurrent symptoms on oversight [corrected] by nurses.

OBJECTIVE: Physical and psychological symptoms in cancer patients are frequently overlooked by medical staff. However, little is known regarding the potential impacts of concurrent physical and psychological symptoms on the overlooking of other symptoms. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of concurrent symptoms on the overlooking of other symptoms in cancer inpatients. METHOD: A total of 255 cancer inpatients in the general wards of one university hospital, who were referred to the palliative care team, were included. On the day of referral, nurses and patients were independently assessed for the presence of the following eight symptoms: pain, fatigue, nausea and vomiting, shortness of breath, lack of appetite, dry mouth, sleep problems, and distressed feelings. The presence of delirium was also separately assessed by nurses and psychiatrists on the team. A total of nine symptoms detected by nurses and those reported by patients or psychiatrists were compared, and logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the variables associated with the overlooking of these symptoms. RESULTS: The most frequently reported symptom was pain (76.5%), followed by distressed feelings (49.8%), sleep problems (34.1%), and delirium (25.1%). The proportion of those overlooked was more than one quarter (25.0-63.6%) for all symptoms except pain (12.8%). Significant associations were found between the overlooking of shortness of breath and concurrent delirium (odds ratio [OR] = 110.9); the overlooking of sleep problems and concurrent lack of appetite (OR = 9.1); and the overlooking of distressed feelings and concurrent dry mouth (OR = 27.7). No patient demographic characteristic was associated with the overlooking of any other symptoms. SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS: The presence of some specific concurrent symptoms is likely to lead to the overlooking of other symptoms in cancer inpatients by nurses. Comprehensive assessments of physical and psychological symptoms in daily clinical practice are needed.

Effectiveness of using the front door score to enhance the chest pain triage accuracy of emergency nurse triage decisions.

BACKGROUND: Nurses lack a standard tool to stratify the risk of chest pain in triage patients. The type of risk stratification may correspond to the type of acuity rating of the 5-level triage scale adopted by nurses for chest pain triage, based on the Front Door Score, simplified from the Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction Risk Score for unstable angina or non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. AIM: This study aimed to evaluate the ability of using the Front Door Score to enhance the accuracy of emergency nurse triage decisions for patients who present with chest pain. DESIGN: A cross-sectional descriptive design was used. METHODS: A convenience sample of 200 subjects was obtained from an emergency department in Hong Kong. Data were collected via a questionnaire. The final physician diagnoses were used as the gold standard in justifying the appropriateness of the risk stratification of chest pain. The agreement rates among the final physician diagnoses, Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction Risk Score for unstable angina or non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction, nurses using the triage scale, and nurses using the Front Door Score were computed using κ statistics. RESULTS: A significant substantial agreement was observed between the final physician diagnoses and nurses using the Front Door Score. In comparison, the agreement between the final physician diagnoses and nurses using the triage scale was poor. CONCLUSION: The chest pain triage reliability of nurses using the Front Door Score was found to be much more credible than that of nurses using the triage scale. A suggested conversion of the scales of Front Door Score was established. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: The Front Door Score should be considered as a standard tool to enhance the chest pain triage accuracy of emergency nurse triage decisions.

Evaluation of the applicability of the Clinical Care Classification System to the care of elderly nursing home residents.

The purpose of this study was to translate the Clinical Care Classification System into Turkish and evaluate its applicability to the care of elderly nursing home residents. This study uses a quasi-experimental design in which interventions and evaluations are repeated at specified time intervals in a single group and in which the Clinical Care Classification System is evaluated in a descriptive manner through the use of documents obtained from the system to test the applicability of the system for the care of elderly nursing home residents. Twenty-eight elderly people participated in the study. The health conditions of elderly people were evaluated using an elderly assessment form based on data obtained after nursing diagnoses and nursing interventions were determined using the Clinical Care Classification System. The change in nursing diagnoses as a result of the applied nursing interventions was evaluated. A total of 297 diagnoses were specified in 18 care components directed to the elderly, and 310 interventions were performed. Upon evaluation of the consequences of the interventions, changes in 208 nursing diagnoses were observed. The findings indicate that the Clinical Care Classification System is useful for determining the requirements of the elderly, providing suitable nursing care and enabling the evaluation of the process.

[A short form of the positions on nursing diagnosis scale: development and psychometric testing]. / Desarrollo y evaluación psicométrica de una forma abreviada de la escala de posicionamiento ante el diagnóstico enfermero.

The Positions on Nursing Diagnosis (PND) is a scale that uses the semantic differential technique to measure nurses' attitudes towards the nursing diagnosis concept. The aim of this study was to develop a shortened form of the Spanish version of this scale and evaluate its psychometric properties and efficiency. A double theoretical-empirical approach was used to obtain a short form of the PND, the PND-7-SV, which would be equivalent to the original. Using a cross-sectional survey design, the reliability (internal consistency and test-retest reliability), construct (exploratory factor analysis, known-groups technique and discriminant validity) and criterion-related validity (concurrent validity), sensitivity to change and efficiency of the PND-7-SV were assessed in a sample of 476 Spanish nursing students. The results endorsed the utility of the PND-7-SV to measure attitudes toward nursing diagnosis in an equivalent manner to the complete form of the scale and in a shorter time.

Consistency of nurses' daily predictions of survival in the intensive care.

In the Intensive Care Unit, clinicians are continuously faced with the difficult task of prognosis, but their predictions of patient survival status may not always be consistent. Specifically very little is known about consistency of predictions over time. The aim of this paper is to assess the consistency of nurses' daily predictions of survival in terms of inter-observer variance and variance of observers over time. We found a low consistency of these predictions between observers and over time, even though changes in the patients' condition are considered. Our findings have implications to the process of end-of-life decision-making, which pertains to withholding or withdrawing intensive care treatment.

Development and evaluation of an expert system for the diagnosis of child autism.

This paper presents the development of an expert system for the diagnosis of child autism and discusses potential benefits of its implementation in a clinical environment. The development of the expert system was based on a diagnostic algorithm supported by a developmental scale (PEDS) and a diagnostic tool of autism (CARS). Twelve nurses who work in pediatric hospital were asked to use the expert system for a session of 30 minutes and were asked to assess its usefulness, usability and diagnostic value. The majority of nurses agree that it is a useful and promising diagnostic tool for the clinical practice and for the identification of potential child autism cases.

[Nursing diagnoses analysis under the bayesian perspective]. / A análise de diagnósticos de enfermagem sob uma perspectiva bayesiana.

The use of Bayesian statistical techniques is an approach that is well accepted and established in fields outside of nursing as a paradigm to reduce the uncertainty present in a given clinical situation. The purpose of this article is to provide guidance regarding the specific use of the Bayesian paradigm in the analysis of nursing diagnoses. The steps and interpretations of Bayesian analysis are discussed. One theoretical and one practical example of Bayesian analysis of nursing diagnoses are presented. It describes how the Bayesian approach can be used to summarize the available knowledge and make point and interval estimates of the true probability of a nursing diagnosis. It was concluded that the application of Bayesian statistical methods is an important tool for more accurate definition of probabilities related to nursing diagnoses.

[A synthesis of patient problems: a first step to the nursing minimum data set]. / Synthèse des problèmes de soins infirmiers: un pas vers la statistique infirmière.

UNLABELLED: In 2012 Switzerland will adopt a system for hospital funding, named SwissDRG, based on the German Diagnosis Related Group model. This method of funding takes little account of nursing as the grouping is based on diagnoses and treatments. OBJECTIVE: This study conducted at the University Hospital of Lausanne seeks to introduce nursing data in the medical statistic under the form of diagnosis. METHOD: Based on a web questionnaire, this study interviewed 293 nursing clinical and administrative managers. According to their experience they had to selected 10 problems of care from a list of 30 and sort them depending to their impact on the workload and length of stay. RESULTS: 95 responses from most of the clinical specialties of the University Hospital of Lausanne. A list of 15 nursing problems has been published. The use of the RIDITs shows a difference between the subgroups determined by sex and length of service. CONCLUSION: This study showed that the use of web questionnaires is a way that should be continued. It also shows that through the RIDITs it is possible to analyze the differences in responses between groups even if the sample is small. This study must now be extended to the pediatrics and obstetrics.

Perilous periodontitis: a clinical study.

The aim of this study is to determine whether periodontitis in pregnant women could be a risk factor for pre term low birth weight. The oral hygiene status, periodontal status and periodontal treatment needs of mothers who birthed infants with normal birth weight and normal gestation period (group A) and mothers who birthed pre term low birth weight infants (group B) were assessed and compared. The clinical parameters used were Oral Hygiene Index--simplified (OHI-S), gingival bleeding index (GBI), probing pocket depth and Community Periodontal Index of Treatment Needs (CPITN). This article presents the study and its findings and draws conclusions as to the relationship between poor periodontal condition and pre term low birth weight.

Postoperative Cardiovascular Surgery Delirium: Interrater Agreement Between Nurses and Clinical Nurse Specialist and Factors Associated With Prevalence.

PURPOSE: The aims of this study were to examine interrater agreement of delirium between clinical nurses and a clinical nurse specialist, determine delirium subtype prevalence, and examine associated patient, procedure, and hospital factors. DESIGN: A descriptive cross-sectional design and a convenience sample of nurses and patients on progressive care units were used in this study. METHODS: Clinical nurse specialist data were collected on a case report form, and clinician and patient data were obtained from electronic databases. Interrater agreement of delirium prevalence was assessed by κ statistic, and logistic regression models were used to determine patient factors associated with delirium. RESULTS: Of 216 patients, 23 had delirium; clinical nurses identified fewer cases than the clinical nurse specialist: 1.8% versus 10.7%; κ agreement, 0.27 (0.06, 0.49). By delirium subtype, hypoactive delirium was more frequent (n = 10). Factors associated with delirium were history of cerebrovascular disease (odds ratio [95% confidence interval], 2.8 [1.01-7.7]; P = .044), history of mitral valve disease (odds ratio [95% confidence interval], 0.31 [0.09-0.90]; P = .041), and longer perfusion time (odds ratio [95% confidence interval], 1.7 [1.1-2.7]; P = .016). One factor was associated with hypoactive delirium, longer perfusion time (odds ratio [95% confidence interval], 2.2 [1.3-4.2]; P = .008). CONCLUSIONS: Because clinician-clinical nurse specialist delirium agreement was low and hypoactive delirium was common, clinical interventions are needed.

Evidence-based nursing-sensitive indicators for patients hospitalized with depression in Thailand.

The aim of this study was to develop and validate nursing-sensitive indicators for patients hospitalized with depression in Thailand. The initial draft, consisting of 12 categories with 37 subcategories, was then evaluated by experts in the US and Thailand. Hospital records were then utilized to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of the indicators. The finalized instrument consisted of 11 categories with 43 items with a validity of .98 and internal consistency of .88. This is the first set of indicators developed to evaluate nursing-sensitivity for patients hospitalized with a diagnosis of depression in Thailand. Having nursing indicators for depressed patients provides nurses with concrete tools to evaluate their work with depressed patients, allowing these staff to assess their work in a very specific, methodical, and consistent manner. When problems are discovered, both the staff and administration can work to address these issues through training, procedural changes, and departmental shifts.

Middle-Range Theory for the Nursing Diagnosis of Low Self-Efficacy in Health.

OBJECTIVES: theoretical validation of the concept of low self-efficacy in health as a nursing diagnosis construct. METHODS: construction of a middle-range theory for validating diagnoses, comprised of five stages: definition of the approach for building the theory; definition of the main concepts; creation of a pictorial diagram; formulation of proposals; establishment of causal relationships and evidence for clinical practice. The main concepts were identified through a literature review and the studies were taken from the LILACS, SCOPUS, CINAHL and PubMed/MEDLINE databases. The final sample was comprised of 92 articles. RESULTS: eighteen etiological factors and 16 clinical indicators were identified; characterized as antecedents and manifestations for inferring a diagnosis of low self-efficacy in health. CONCLUSIONS: the related concepts of the new nursing diagnosis of low self-efficacy in health, to be applied in clinical nursing practice, were identified and defined.

Content Validation of Clinical Evidence Related to Self-Care Deficits of Patients With Stroke.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to develop the conceptual and operational definitions for the defining characteristics of each nursing diagnosis related to self-care deficits of patients with stroke and to validate these definitions with experts. METHODS: This was a methodological study. The definitions were evaluated by 32 specialists and analyzed using binomial testing. RESULTS: All the defining characteristics analyzed were statistically significant (p < .05); three indicators showed agreement at a level lower than the ideal (<0.85). CONCLUSION: The definitions achieved validity for measuring self-care deficit for bathing, toileting, dressing, and eating. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE: These defining characteristics of each nursing diagnosis related to self-care deficits may enable more accurate assessment, driving relevant and individualized action plans in rehabilitation.