Nursing phenomena in inpatient psychiatry

Little is known about the question if the nursing diagnosis classification of North American Nursing Association-International (NANDA-I) describes the adult inpatient psychiatric nursing care. The present study aimed to identify nursing phenomena mentioned in journal articles about the psychiatric inpatient nursing care and to compare these phenomena with the labels and the definitions of the nursing diagnoses to elucidate how well this classification covers these phenomena. A search of journal articles took place in the databases MedLine, PsychInfo, Cochrane and CINAHL. A qualitative content analysis approach was used to identify nursing phenomena in the articles. Various phenomena were found in the articles. The study demonstrated that NANDA-I describes essential phenomena for the adult inpatient psychiatry on the level of labels and definitions. However, some apparently important nursing phenomena are not covered by the labels or definitions of NANDA-I. Other phenomena are assigned as defining characteristics or as related factors to construct nursing diagnoses. The further development of the classification NANDA-I will strengthen the application in the daily work of psychiatric nurses and enhance the quality of nursing care in the inpatient setting.