Altered family processes related to an ill family member: a validation study

The purpose of this retrospective descriptive survey was to validate the defining characteristics for altered family processes related to an ill family nursing diagnosis. Using Ferhing's (1987) Diagnostic Cantent Validation Model, data were collected from 58 registered nurses. Clinical nurses submitted 14 defining characteristics not identified by NANDA nor found in the literature. Many of these characteristics expressed the same concepts in different terms from those used by NANDA. The results of this study give credibility to NANDA's conceptually stated defining characteristics and suggest further clinical research.