Nursing diagnoses in long-term care: a longitudinal perspective for strategic planning

The authors analyzed nursing diagnoses recorded in care plans for a 328-bed midwestern county-owned and operated nursing home over a 10-year period from 1984 to 1993. Data were analyzed using a test for increasing or decreasing the linear trend in the proportion of residents with a particular nursing diagnosis over the 10-year period. Based on nursing diagnoses trends, the current population of nursing home residents has greater dependency, nutritional, and physiological needs and greater cognitive impairment than ten years ago. Analyses of nursing diagnoses can provide measurable data to assist executive and clinical nursing staff in nursing homes.