Nursing Diagnosis Box

Table of Contents

The school nurse clicks the drop-down box on the IHP template to select the nursing diagnosis type and uses the text box to write the nursing diagnosis associated with the box that overall reflects the needs of the student for the IHP.

The nursing diagnosis in an IHP is a clinical judgment concerning a student’s response to a health condition or life process. It is a distinct step in the nursing process and a requirement for developing an IHP. The nursing diagnosis is not to be confused with a medical diagnosis. A medical diagnosis focuses on disease and pathology from the student’s prescribing healthcare provider. In contrast, a nursing diagnosis is the label provided when the licensed school nurse who the school employs assigns meaning to collect data in the nursing assessment that focuses on the human response of all health services provided to the student at school.

There are four types of nursing diagnose cues to select from:

  1. Problem-Focused Nursing Diagnosis: A problem-focused nursing diagnosis has three parts: This type of nursing diagnosis contains the nursing diagnosis, related factors, and defining characteristics.
  2. Risk Nursing Diagnosis: A risk nursing diagnosis has two parts. The nursing diagnosis includes a risk diagnostic label and risk factors. This diagnosis uses a clinical nursing judgment that a problem does not exist. However, the presence of risk factors indicates that a problem will likely develop unless the licensed nurse intervenes. The school nurse utilizes assessment information from the student’s current health status, past health history, and other risk factors that may increase the likelihood that a student will experience a health problem at school.
  3. Health Promotion Nursing Diagnosis: A health promotion diagnosis has two parts. The nursing diagnosis includes a readiness statement that identifies a student's readiness to engage in activities to promote health and wellbeing. A health promotion diagnosis is a clinical nursing judgment about the motivation and desire of the student to increase wellbeing that guides nursing intervention to support the student's learning.
  4. Syndrome Diagnosis: A syndrome diagnosis is one statement in the diagnosis label. The syndrome nursing diagnosis is a clinical judgment concerning a cluster of problems or risk nursing diagnosis predicted to be present because of a particular situation or event.

Nurses who want standardized nursing diagnosis examples can access the North American Nursing Diagnosis Association International (NANDA-I) resources, which refine taxonomy structure through domains, classes, and diagnoses.

(North American Nursing Diagnosis Association International [NANDA-I], 2023)