Computer and nursing diagnoses: Issues in implementation

Computer systems aid nurses in integrating nursing diagnosis into all parts of the nursing process: assessment, planning, intervention, and evaluation. Following a six step process, nurses at the Clinical Center of the National Institutes of Health implemented nursing diagnoses via a computerized information system. Inherent in the use of computers for implementing nursing diagnoses are both benefits (such as improved accuracy and increased coordination) as well as problems (such as information overload and expectation of instantaneous responses). Along with computerization, the development of a taxonomy of nursing diagnoses and the refinement of the Nursing Minimum Data Set will contribute a structure to nursing information.