title: Clinical reasoning in nursing.
abstract: This paper traces the development of the concept of nursing diagnosis and the various approaches being used to explain the cognitive processes used by practitioners in diagnosing patient problems. Three main types of explanation are compared; hypothesis generation/testing, decision analysis, and the information processing model. The recent development of the latter approach within the field of artificial intelligence is described and expert system research introduced. Finally, the potential benefits of the advent of expert systems into nursing are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing Studies, University of Southampton, Southampton General Hospital.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Jones
mesh_terms: D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D005103:Expert Systems; D006801:Humans; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D009733:Nursing Diagnosis; D011340:Problem Solving