Nursing Process and Diagnosis

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Institution

Nursing Process and Diagnosis

By a broader definition, the term nursing denotes carrying out an extensive medical assessment on a patient in order to come up with better judgment. Nursing diagnosis entails a clinical judgment about a patient, family or society response to actual and equally potential health complications. It is a profession that compliments that of medical doctors in the provision of medical assistance to the needy in society. In order to practice as a nurse, necessary educational background is a prerequisite for competency and maintaining professionalism in the practice (Brunner et al, 2010, pp 47). Further to that, approval by a medical body is prudent for commencement of commercial practice as a registered nurse. Nursing diagnosis is purely based on the data collected during the assessment stage of the patient. This paper, therefore, seeks to bring forth an understanding of the concept of nursing diagnosis, how it relates to the practice of a registered nurse, the nursing process, non-invasive ventilation and nursing outcome classifications. The paramount duty of the profession is to aid in the care and sustenance of human life.

Registration of nurses is done with the nurses’ governing body. The registration ensures that the practitioners in the field are licensed to do so. This is in an attempt to provide competent services as human life is entrusted in the diagnosis conducted by nurses. It also aids in the mitigation of medical practice risks as a result of professional misconduct. Nursing diagnosis relates to the registration of nurses in that nurses are able to effectively handle the diagnosis of patients with high levels of integrity and competence (Brunner et al, 2010, pp 824). The registration also ensures that nurses are evaluated from time to time in an effort to match their skills with the new emerging trends in the field. It is prudent to note at this point that, nursing as a profession is dynamic and has its challenges. This is as a result of the new research findings in the medical practice that necessitates the embracing of new skills and developments in the field.

A nursing process is a step by step procedure in the administration of medical nursing care. Nursing diagnosis combined with the nursing process, provides a valuable tool that is used by nurses to highlight the individual needs of a patient that fall within the scope of the nursing profession (Ackley & Ladwig, 2006). This enables nurses to identify their roles and effectively attend to patients. The nursing process enables nursing practitioners to have a different perspective in the diagnosis of patients. Nurses tend to look at how an ailment affects a patient and relates it to the other areas of a patient’s life. The nursing process entails developing a procedural cycle to be adopted for a cure plan based on the recommendations, evaluation of the patient’s records or actual physical examination by a doctor. Prompt availability of such information makes it easier for the nurses to come up with a curative process and an education plan to assist the patient to regain stability faster.

Nursing diagnosis at time calls for apt measures to secure the life of a patient. This involves conducting non-invasive ventilation. There are a number of non-invasive ventilation procedures that can be conducted on a patient as stated by the Northern American Nursing Diagnosis Association (NANDA). These methods include; monitoring the progress of the patient on a current ventilator machine whilst making appropriate changes as advised, carrying out chest physiotherapy appropriately, promoting the intake of adequate nutrition and fluids, providing a patient with a means of communicating and checking all ventilators regularly (Ackley & Ladwig, 2006). These are just, but a few procedures to be followed in performing a non invasion ventilation therapy on a patient. Proper adherence to these guidelines and procedures may assist a patient to recover. Therefore, the nursing diagnosis relates to these procedures that are carried out on a patient. They two are related in that the procedures have to be conducted by a qualified and registered nurse. A comprehensive examination has to be conducted on a patient before a judgment is reached on the best curative plan to be formulated for the patient.

The nursing intervention classification (NIC) and the nursing outcome classification (NOC) attempt to provide intervention procedures to be conducted on a patient (Brunner et al, 2010). The NIC outlines the activity to be carried out as part of the preparation phase of the nursing process in readiness for the final nursing plan. It provides a list of specific activities to be done to successfully complete an intervention in a given particular situation. The NOC provides a description of patient outcomes for patients that are sensitive to interventions. It classifies the different effects of the nursing care as a part of the nursing process. The two classifications largely relate to the diagnosis given thereafter by a registered nurse, since they provide a set of indicators and a way of realizing the objective of the nursing outcome. As a case study, a patient with a fainting illness will require resuscitation through a mouth to mouth assistance to breathe, loosening of any tight fittings to enable free blood circulation, and elevating the angle of their legs as they lie on their back. Both interventions come in handy as they are used to realize the desired outcome.

In conclusion, nursing diagnosis entails the use of procedures to reach an objective. Fully trained nurses need to be registered as professionals so as to ensure the required standards of service are met. In a nutshell, the nursing process entails; assessing the data collected from a case, diagnosing what type of problem is there, the outcome, a clear plan on how to manage the case, implementation by putting plans into action and finally evaluating whether the desired outcome was realized.

References

Brunner, L. S., & Smeltzer, S. C. O. C. (2010). Brunner & Suddarth’s textbook of medical-surgical nursing. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Ackley, G. & Ladwig, G (2006). Nursing diagnosis handbook: a guide to planning care (7th edition). St Louis: Mosby