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Documentation of Nursing Diagnosis

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Managing uncertainty in diagnostic practice.

Ashley Graham Kennedy^1,2

¹Honors College, Florida Atlantic University, Jupiter, FL, USA.

Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice

|April 17, 2015

Summary

Clinicians often mishandle diagnostic uncertainty, leading to patient care issues. This study analyzes cases to explain why uncertainty is overlooked and offers recommendations for improved clinical diagnosis.

Keywords:

clinical guidelines diagnosis epistemology

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Published on: September 16, 2015

Area of Science:

Medical ethics
Clinical diagnosis
Patient care

Background:

Medical literature extensively discusses diagnostic uncertainty.
Clinicians sometimes mishandle uncertainty in diagnostic practice.
Mishandling uncertainty can cause medical and ethical problems in patient care.

Purpose of the Study:

To explain why diagnostic uncertainty is not appropriately dealt with during differential diagnosis.
To propose recommendations for improving clinical diagnostic practices.
To highlight elements of diagnostic uncertainty and clinician awareness.

Main Methods:

Analysis of two recent case studies.
Examination of the process of differential diagnosis.
Identification of factors contributing to overlooking uncertainty.

Main Results:

Uncertainty in diagnosis is a recurring issue in clinical practice.
Specific case analyses reveal reasons for mishandling diagnostic uncertainty.
Clinicians may overlook uncertainty due to routine practice.

Conclusions:

Addressing diagnostic uncertainty is crucial for effective patient care.
Recommendations are provided to enhance clinicians' awareness and management of uncertainty.
Improved diagnostic practices can mitigate medical and ethical risks.