Validity of concepts for selected nursing diagnoses

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which defining characteristics found in selected patients cluster to form a nursing diagnostic response/label or define a concept, and to determine the construct validity of the defining characteristics for Self-Care Deficit, Impaired Mobility, and Pain. The sample included 309 medical-surgical patients who were found to have the diagnostic responses of interest. The signs and symptoms of the 309 patients were submitted to cluster analysis. Scores on the clusters were examined for their ability to differentiate between two known groups of patients: those identified by clinical nurse specialists (CNS) as having, or not having, selected diagnostic responses/labels. The cluster score Self-Care Deficit differentiated between patients with and without the CNS-diagnostic response of Self-Care Deficit and Pain. Patients with CNS-diagnosis of Self-Care Deficit and Impaired Mobility scored high in the Impaired Mobility Cluster score. Limitations of the study, clinical relevance, and recommendations for future research are discussed.