Quality of care in occupational health through nursing diagnosis

Nursing diagnosis as a part of nursing is not a new activity, but rather one that has been more clearly delineated and structured. Nursing diagnosis is the natural outcome following nursing assessment, and directs the establishment of care goals. Nursing diagnosis promotes quality of care by providing a common framework for the description of client needs, by delineating the areas of nursing responsibility, and by providing criteria to measure the comprehensiveness of the care provided. Consistency in terminology and structure is important for the effectiveness of nursing diagnosis. The use of a widely accepted diagnostic label promotes a clear understanding of the nurse's intended statement of the client's condition. Although consistency and standardization are features of the taxonomy of nursing diagnosis, the concept is flexible enough to be used in a variety of care settings. In occupational health nursing, this flexibility is provided through use of group data, through the diagnostic category of health maintenance, and by the identification of potential nursing diagnoses.