title: NANDA nursing diagnoses identification and validation in a neonatal unit.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify the problems nurses encounter in a Neonatal Unit and adapt them to the corresponding NANDA (North American Nursing Diagnosis Association) diagnostic categories for their validation in our environment.
  
  
  METHODS
  A Nominal Group Technique (NGT) was developed to identify the problems that nurses detect and solve. Identified problems were catalogued with their corresponding diagnostic label using the NANDA diagnostic taxonomy. A concordance study was carried out between two observers, using the Kappa coefficient.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the study period, 36 different NANDA diagnostic categories were identified for use. From these, 5 have been validated with an excellent or good concordance (K > 0.70) and 2 with an average concordance (0.70 > K > 0.40). The remaining categories did not occur with enough frequency during the study period to apply statistical treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The diagnostic categories validated in our Unit occur frequently, are easily identified by the nurses, and can be used in patient care plans. Non-validated categories may become valid in subsequent studies.
authors.affiliation: University Nursing School (E.U.E.), Virgen de las Nieves, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: González Carrión
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sánchez García
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: de Dios Luna de Castillo
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Arcas Ruiz
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Palma Ruiz
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D017283:Neonatal Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D009733:Nursing Diagnosis / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D015588:Observer Variation; D011340:Problem Solving; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D009626:Terminology as Topic