A 10-Year Retrospective Study of Teaching Nursing Diagnosis to Baccalaureate Students in Italy

PURPOSE.  The aim of this 10-year retrospective study was to evaluate the impact of teaching nursing process to students at different levels of baccalaureate education, using the North American Nursing Diagnosis Association International (NANDA-I) Taxonomy.

METHOD.  Nursing care plans written between 1996 and 2006 by 3,784 students who had completed a baccalaureate course in nursing process at a university in northern Italy were evaluated. At least three of the four steps of the nursing process were included in the evaluation: assessing, planning, intervening, and evaluating.

RESULTS.  An average of 6.3 (range 0–31; ±3.9; median 6) problems were identified in each care plan. Of these, 5.1 (range 0–29; ±3.06; median 5) were related to nursing diagnoses concerning either an actual problem or the risk of developing a problem; the remaining 1.2 (range 0–20; ±1.9; median 0) diagnoses were concerned either with collaborative problems or with potential complications. The students demonstrated significant improvement in accurately identifying 75 diagnostic titles from the NANDA-I Taxonomy as they progressed through their first, second, and third years of baccalaureate study.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE.  These findings suggest that the ability to use the NANDA-I Taxonomy accurately is acquired over time. Thus, the theory and practice of using nursing process should be introduced in a formal course during the first year of baccalaureate nursing education and should be reinforced throughout the remaining courses. Students can then progressively improve their knowledge, critical thinking abilities, and use of the NANDA-I Taxonomy during their second and third years of study. Teaching strategies to reinforce students' learning are recommended.