The meaning of illness is individualized to each person who experiences an alteration in health. In contrast, disease is a medical term indicating a pathological change in the structure and function of the body or mind. It is a condition that has specific symptoms and boundaries.
An illness is a response to a disease in which the person's level of functioning is changed compared with a previous level. The general classification of illness includes acute and chronic.
Acute illness is severe and...

Following assessment, a nursing diagnosis is the next step in the nursing process. It begins after the nurse has collected and recorded the patient data. The purpose of diagnosing is to identify how the client responds to actual or potential health processes, identify factors that bestow or that cause health problems, the etiologies, and identify resources or strengths the individual, group, or community can draw on to prevent or resolve problems.
The nursing diagnosis focuses on evidence-based...

The nurse documents nursing diagnoses and enters them into the patient record. The identified patient's nursing diagnosis is either written out with a plan of care or entered into the electronic health record.
In some settings, data-driven computerized decision support systems are in place, allowing for more accurate nursing diagnoses. The database within one of these systems includes diagnostic labels defining characteristics, activities, and indicators for nursing. A nurse enters assessment...