Of the following statements, which one is an example of an appropriate

Of the following statements, which one is an example of an appropriately written nursing diag-nosis?

1. Acute pain related to left mastectomy
2. Impaired gas exchange related to altered blood gases
3. Deficient knowledge related to need for cardiac catheterization
4. Need for high protein diet related to alteration in client nutrition

ANSWER

ANS: 3
This nursing diagnosis is written correctly. It defines a problem and its etiology. In this case the problem is the client’s response to a diagnostic test. A medical diagnosis should not be recorded as the etiology because nursing interventions cannot change the medical diagnosis. It would be appropriate to state acute pain related to impaired skin integrity secondary to mastectomy inci-sion. This nursing diagnosis is written incorrectly because it uses supportive data of the problem as the etiology. This nursing diagnosis does not identify the problem and etiology. It identifies the client’s goal rather than the problem. It could be reworded as imbalanced nutrition: less than body requirements related to inadequate protein intake.