Altered thought processes and sensory/perceptual alterations: a critique

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Clinical Psychology
• Healthcare Diagnostics

Background:

• Clinical usefulness of nursing diagnoses like altered thought processes and sensory/perceptual alterations is debated.
• Avoidance of these diagnoses in practice due to perceived ambiguity has been noted.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how expert nurses differentiate between altered thought processes and sensory/perceptual alterations.
• To understand the practical application of these nursing diagnoses in clinical settings.

Main Methods:

• A questionnaire was developed to assess expert nurses' differentiation strategies.
• The survey was distributed to 128 members of NANDA identifying as experts in these diagnoses.
• A response rate of 52% (66 participants) was achieved.

Main Results:

• Defining characteristics for altered thought processes were found to be cognitively oriented.
• Defining characteristics for sensory/perceptual alterations were identified as perceptually oriented.
• Significant overlap in defining characteristics, such as changes in problem-solving ability, was observed.

Conclusions:

• The cognitive vs. perceptual orientation aids in differentiating the diagnoses.
• Overlapping characteristics present a significant challenge for accurate differential diagnosis.
• Further refinement may be needed to enhance the clinical utility and distinctness of these nursing diagnoses.