title: Nursing diagnosis: a strategy for teaching etiologies.
abstract: In teaching the nursing process, educators ask students to identify nursing diagnoses for patients in the clinical area. Nursing diagnoses provide structure and focus for the student's plan of care. However, beginning nursing students have little or no clinical knowledge upon which to base decisions in the area of etiology determination. A model is presented which limits etiologies to four categories. The four categories can also assist the nurse in practice to assess needs in order to comprehensively plan and implement care. Examples of nursing diagnoses pertaining to the neuroscience patient using the four categories of etiologies are described.
authors.affiliation: University of Alabama School of Nursing, Birmingham 35294.
authors.forename: A W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Foote
authors.forename: B R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Rozell
mesh_terms: D003479:Curriculum; D004506:Education, Nursing; D006801:Humans; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D009733:Nursing Diagnosis; D009736:Nursing Process; D014481:United States