Clinical support for eliminating the nursing diagnosis of knowledge deficit

An investigation of the appropriateness of the use of the nursing diagnosis, Knowledge Deficit, in specific clinical instances and examination of the diagnosis in light of validation criteria provided clinical support for eliminating it. The authors conclude that Knowledge Deficit falls outside of the boundaries of the discipline and that the label encourages nurses to focus attention on the promotion of knowledge as an entity rather than addressing a behavior related to the patients' lack of information. Removal of Knowledge Deficit from The North American Nursing Diagnosis Association (1986) taxonomy would force nurses to use other diagnostic labels.