The American
Nurses Association (ANA) Social Policy Statement of 1980 was the first to
define nursing as the diagnosis and treatment of human responses to actual and
potential health problems.
This
definition, when combined with the ANA Standards of Practice, has provided
impetus and support for the use of nursing diagnosis. Defining nursing and its
effect on client care supports the growing awareness that nursing care is a key
factor in client survival and in the maintenance, rehabilitative, and
preventive aspects of healthcare. Changes and new developments in healthcare
delivery in the last decade have given rise to the need for a common framework
of communication to ensure continuity of care for the client moving between multiple
healthcare settings and providers. Evaluation and documentation of care are
important parts of this process.
This book is
designed to aid the practitioner and student nurse in identifying interventions
commonly associated with specific nursing diagnoses as proposed by NANDA
International (formerly the North American Nursing Diagnosis Association).
These
interventions are the activities needed to implement and document care provided
to the individual client and can be used in varied settings from acute to ommunity/home
care.