Prevalence and clustering of NANDA‐I nursing diagnoses in the pre‐hospital emergency care setting: A retrospective records review study
Authors: Romero‐Sánchez José Manuel , Sánchez‐Almagro César Pedro , White‐Ríos Melanie , Paloma‐Castro Olga 
Published: January 2024

Aim

To determine the prevalence and clustering of NANDA‐International nursing diagnoses in patients assisted by pre‐hospital emergency teams.

Design

Retrospective descriptive study of electronic record review.

Methods

Episodes recorded during 2019, including at least a nursing diagnosis, were recovered from the electronic health records of a Spanish public emergency agency (N = 28,847). Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the sample and determine prevalence. A two‐step cluster analysis was used to group nursing diagnoses. A comparison between clusters in sociodemographic and medical problems was performed. Data were accessed in November 2020.

Results

Risk for falls (00155) (27.3%), Anxiety (00146) (23.2%), Acute pain (00132), Fear (00148) and Ineffective breathing pattern (00032) represented 96.1% of all recorded diagnoses. A six‐cluster solution (n = 26.788) was found. Five clusters had a single high‐prevalence diagnosis predominance: Risk for falls (00155) in cluster 1, Anxiety (00146) in cluster 2, Fear (00148) in cluster 3, Acute pain (00132) in cluster 4 and Ineffective breathing pattern (00032) in cluster 6. Cluster 5 had several high prevalence diagnoses which co‐occurred: Risk for unstable blood glucose level (00179), Ineffective coping (00069), Ineffective health management (00078), Impaired comfort (00214) and Impaired verbal communication (00051).

Conclusion

Five nursing diagnoses accounted for almost the entire prevalence. The identified clusters showed that pre‐hospital patients present six patterns of nursing diagnoses. Five clusters were predominated by a predominant nursing diagnosis related to patient safety, coping, comfort, and activity/rest, respectively. The sixth cluster grouped several nursing diagnoses applicable to exacerbations of chronic diseases.

Implications for the profession and/or patient care

Knowing the prevalence and clustering of nursing diagnoses allows a better understanding of the human responses of patients attended by pre‐hospital emergency teams and increases the evidence of individualized/standardized care plans in the pre‐hospital clinical setting.

Impact

What problem did the study address?

There are different models of pre‐hospital emergency care services.

The use of standardized nursing languages in the pre‐hospital setting is not homogeneous.

Studies on NANDA‐I nursing diagnoses in the pre‐hospital context are scarce, and those available are conducted on small samples.

What were the main findings?

This paper reports the study with the largest sample among the few published on NANDA‐I nursing diagnoses in the pre‐hospital care setting.

Five nursing diagnoses represented 96.1% of all recorded. These diagnoses were related to patients' safety/protection and coping/stress tolerance.

Patients attended by pre‐hospital care teams are grouped into six clusters based on the nursing diagnoses, and this classification is independent of the medical conditions the patient suffers.

Where and on whom will the research have an impact?

Knowing the prevalence of nursing diagnoses allows a better understanding of the human responses of patients treated in the pre‐hospital setting, increasing the evidence of individualized and standardized care plans for pre‐hospital care.

Reporting method

STROBE checklist has been used as a reporting method.

No Patient or Public Contribution

Only patients' records were reviewed without further involvement.