Nursing diagnoses in patients with COVID-19 admitted to the intensive care unit: CROSS-MAPPING

To identify and analyze the nursing diagnoses listed in the medical records of COVID-19 patients admitted to an intensive care unit using Taxonomy II of NANDA-I. Background: COVID-19 is a complex disease with heterogeneous behaviors, and the role of intensive care nurses in accurately identifying related signs and symptoms has become even more critical during the pandemic. Nurses rely on classification systems or taxonomies to standardize concepts and language in practice. Method: This quantitative study employed a descriptive and individual approach, utilizing the cross-mapping method. Data were collected from 57 medical records of critical care patients in a hospital in northeastern Brazil between July 2020 and March 2021. Three researchers analyzed the mapped diagnoses, and agreement was assessed using the Content Validation Index and Fleiss' Kappa. Results: Among the listed nursing diagnoses, 54.28% were found to be standardized, 45.71% had corresponding nursing diagnoses, and 5.71% did not have an equivalent diagnosis in the reference taxonomy used in the study. Due to the possibility of multiple nursing diagnoses in the same patient, the most frequent diagnoses were Risk of pressure injury in adults (66.66%), Risk of falls in adults (64.91%), and Risk of infection (45.61%). Among the 37 diagnoses mapped, the risk diagnoses were the most prevalent and could be prevented if identified early. Conclusions: The study highlights the importance of standardized nursing diagnoses in the ICU for COVID-19 patients and the need for accurate identification and prevention of risk diagnoses to enhance patient care and improve outcomes.