Clinical Support For Eliminating The Nursing Diagnosis Of Knowledge Deficit

Abstract

An investigation of the appropriateness of the use of the nursing diagnosis, Knowledge Deficit, in specific clinical instances and examination of the diagnosis in light of validation criteria provided clinical support for eliminating it. The authors conclude that Knowledge Deficit falls outside of the boundaries of the discipline and that the label encourages nurses to focus attention on the promotion of knowledge as an entity rather than addressing a behavior related to the patients' lack of information. Removal of Knowledge Deficit from The North American Nursing Diagnosis Association (1986) taxonomy would force nurses to use other diagnostic labels.

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Perceptions of Advanced Practice Nurses Regarding Urinary Incontinence in Older Adult Women

“…Lenz (1984) proposed that individuals seeking health information experience positive cognitive and behavioral outcomes. Individuals mutually engaged in the control of their health experience have been found to have a better QOL (Dennison & Keeling, 2007;Lambert & Loiselle, 2007). A better QOL leads to a happier and healthier woman.…”

Nursing Diagnoses Used Most Frequently in Rehabilitation Nursing Practice

“…Some are categories (alterations in elimina-tion) and some are specific diagnoses (impaired physical mobility). In addition, the acceptability of the diagnosis of knowledge deficit is being challenged (Dennison & Keeling, 1989).…”

Paths to Concept Development in Nursing Diagnosis

“…Content analysis using written materials, interviews, or nursing documents and records is a valuable means of concept development (Mahrie & Steel, 1987) Dennison and Keeling's (1989) study of knowledge deficit is an example of using retrospective audits to refine or refute a nursing diagnosis. Historical documents are valuable sources of information about nursing practice.…”