Identifying and validating nursing diagnoses in a gynecologic ambulatory-care setting

This descriptive study was conducted to identify the nursing diagnoses made in providing care to 100 gynecologic ambulatory-care patients and to determine the defining characteristics of the three most frequently made diagnoses. Nurse-observers studied nurse and patient interactions, recorded the defining characteristics, and assigned a nursing diagnosis to the patient. Twenty-five nursing diagnoses were used in the study, and the type and frequency of the defining characteristics varied. The findings of the study will add to the nursing diagnoses' knowledge base.