Nursing Diagnosis PRACTICE Questions WITH
CORRECT ANSWERS GRADED A+ WITH
RATIONALES
A nurse is assigned to a new patient admitted to the nursing unit following admission through
the emergency department. The nurse collects a nursing history and interviews the patient.
Place the following steps for making a nursing diagnosis in the correct order.
_____ 1. Considers context of patient's health problem and selects a related factor
_____ 2. Reviews assessment data, noting objective and subjective clinical criteria
_____ 3. Clusters clinical criteria that form a pattern
_____ 4. Chooses diagnostic label - ANSWER-Correct Answer(s):
2, 3, 4, 1
A nurse is reviewing a patient's list of nursing diagnoses in the medical record. The most recent
nursing diagnosis is diarrhea related to intestinal colitis. This is an incorrectly stated diagnostic
statement, best described as:
A) Identifying the clinical sign instead of an etiology.
B) Identifying a diagnosis based on prejudicial judgment.
C) Identifying the diagnostic study rather than a problem caused by the diagnostic study.
D) Identifying the medical diagnosis instead of the patient's response to the diagnosis. -
ANSWER-Correct Answer(s): D
In this example intestinal colitis is a medical diagnosis and thus an incorrect diagnostic
statement.
, A nurse reviews data gathered regarding a patient's pain symptoms. The nurse compares the
defining characteristics for acute pain with those for chronic pain and in the end selects acute
pain as the correct diagnosis. This is an example of the nurse avoiding an error in:
A) Data collection.
B) Data clustering.
C) Data interpretation.
D) Making a diagnostic statement. - ANSWER-Correct Answer(s): C
In the review of data, the nurse compares defining characteristics for the two nursing diagnoses
and selects one based on the interpretation of data. Making a diagnostic statement is incorrect
because the nurse has not included a related factor.
In the following examples, which nurses are making nursing diagnostic errors? (Select all that
apply.)
A) The nurse who listens to lung sounds after a patient reports "difficulty breathing"
B) The nurse who considers conflicting cues in deciding which diagnostic label to choose
C) The nurse assessing the edema in a patient's lower leg who is unsure how to assess the
severity of edema
D) The nurse who identifies a diagnosis on the basis of a single defining characteristic -
ANSWER-Correct Answer(s): C, D
When the nurse assesses edema without knowing how to assess the severity, the nurse fails to
validate her assessment findings of edema, either by using a scale to measure the severity or by
asking a colleague to validate her findings. In identifying a diagnosis on the basis of a single
defining characteristic, the nurse prematurely closes clustering, which can lead to an inaccurate
diagnosis. By listening to lung sounds after the patient reports "difficulty breathing" the nurse
validates findings to make an accurate diagnosis. The nurse interprets cue clusters to make an
accurate diagnosis when considering conflicting cues to make a diagnosis.
Match the activity on the left with the source of diagnostic error on the right:
CORRECT ANSWERS GRADED A+ WITH
RATIONALES
A nurse is assigned to a new patient admitted to the nursing unit following admission through
the emergency department. The nurse collects a nursing history and interviews the patient.
Place the following steps for making a nursing diagnosis in the correct order.
_____ 1. Considers context of patient's health problem and selects a related factor
_____ 2. Reviews assessment data, noting objective and subjective clinical criteria
_____ 3. Clusters clinical criteria that form a pattern
_____ 4. Chooses diagnostic label - ANSWER-Correct Answer(s):
2, 3, 4, 1
A nurse is reviewing a patient's list of nursing diagnoses in the medical record. The most recent
nursing diagnosis is diarrhea related to intestinal colitis. This is an incorrectly stated diagnostic
statement, best described as:
A) Identifying the clinical sign instead of an etiology.
B) Identifying a diagnosis based on prejudicial judgment.
C) Identifying the diagnostic study rather than a problem caused by the diagnostic study.
D) Identifying the medical diagnosis instead of the patient's response to the diagnosis. -
ANSWER-Correct Answer(s): D
In this example intestinal colitis is a medical diagnosis and thus an incorrect diagnostic
statement.
, A nurse reviews data gathered regarding a patient's pain symptoms. The nurse compares the
defining characteristics for acute pain with those for chronic pain and in the end selects acute
pain as the correct diagnosis. This is an example of the nurse avoiding an error in:
A) Data collection.
B) Data clustering.
C) Data interpretation.
D) Making a diagnostic statement. - ANSWER-Correct Answer(s): C
In the review of data, the nurse compares defining characteristics for the two nursing diagnoses
and selects one based on the interpretation of data. Making a diagnostic statement is incorrect
because the nurse has not included a related factor.
In the following examples, which nurses are making nursing diagnostic errors? (Select all that
apply.)
A) The nurse who listens to lung sounds after a patient reports "difficulty breathing"
B) The nurse who considers conflicting cues in deciding which diagnostic label to choose
C) The nurse assessing the edema in a patient's lower leg who is unsure how to assess the
severity of edema
D) The nurse who identifies a diagnosis on the basis of a single defining characteristic -
ANSWER-Correct Answer(s): C, D
When the nurse assesses edema without knowing how to assess the severity, the nurse fails to
validate her assessment findings of edema, either by using a scale to measure the severity or by
asking a colleague to validate her findings. In identifying a diagnosis on the basis of a single
defining characteristic, the nurse prematurely closes clustering, which can lead to an inaccurate
diagnosis. By listening to lung sounds after the patient reports "difficulty breathing" the nurse
validates findings to make an accurate diagnosis. The nurse interprets cue clusters to make an
accurate diagnosis when considering conflicting cues to make a diagnosis.
Match the activity on the left with the source of diagnostic error on the right:
