NANDA International 2012 Conference Abstract
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Session 2.4
Education & Implementation Track
Oral Poster

Authors
Sally Decker
Elizabeth A. Roe

Question
To explore the fit of NANDA diagnoses within a concept-based curriculum. There is a movement in nursing education towards concept-based curricula. This movement has been fueled by an attempt to decrease the amount of specific content and decrease student perception of repetition. Nursing diagnoses have frequently been linked to content versus concepts and the bridge between concepts and nursing diagnoses has not been clearly articulated. A nursing diagnosis is an integration of assessment data to guide nursing interventions. It is patient-centered and relates to the human response/experience of the individual. Concepts are abstractions and are not population specific. They are independent of medical diagnoses or organ systems. Some of the nursing diagnostic labels, for example acute pain, ineffective health management, impaired skin integrity, risk for infection, altered nutrition are more likely to “fit” within a conceptual approach as they are not population specific.  However, many other diagnoses are more likely to occur in specific populations or medical conditions or do not related to the concepts of professional identity such as communication, collaboration, and evidence-based practice which form the basis for many curricula. It would be possible to conclude that nursing diagnoses do not fit with these types of concepts. It is within the provision of care courses that the more abstract nursing diagnoses such as skin integrity fit. Do NANDA diagnoses fit within a concept-based curriculum?

Results / Findings
Within the care provider courses, physiological, mental, cognitive, existential, family, and functional clusters were fairly easy to match. However, the diagnostic labels under the safety cluster were not a well-matched with how safety is conceptualized through IOM/QSEN and the nurse identity professional behavior. In addition, the environment cluster is not a strong match to the metaparadigm perspective of environment. Multiple concepts were identified outside of the care provider courses which could not be matched with nursing diagnoses.

Discussion / Conclusion
There is a partial fit between nursing diagnoses and concepts in the care provider courses of a concept-based curriculum.

Method
Using the proposed seven NANDA taxonomy clusters, the major concepts within a nursing concept based curriculum were explored to see if there was a match between the concepts and the clusters.

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