Which statement describes a nursing process step involved in selecting a nursing diagnosis?

Which statement describes a nursing process step involved in selecting a nursing diagnosis?

• A. Sort health problems within nursing domain
• B. Prescribe medications
• C. Identify underlying disease
• D. Develop treatment protocols

Answer: (A)

The main idea is differentiating which problems are within the nurse’s scope to address with a nursing diagnosis. When selecting a nursing diagnosis, you review the data from assessment and sort the problems to determine which are appropriate to label as a nursing diagnosis—i.e., patient responses to health conditions that nurses are licensed to treat—rather than medical conditions the physician would diagnose. This categorization step is essential so the plan targets the patient’s nursing-sensitive outcomes with appropriate nursing interventions. Prescribing medications falls under medical management, not a nursing diagnostic choice. Identifying an underlying disease is a medical diagnosis task rather than a nursing diagnosis decision. Developing treatment protocols is about planning care at a broader or protocol level, not about selecting the nursing diagnosis itself.

The main idea is differentiating which problems are within the nurse’s scope to address with a nursing diagnosis. When selecting a nursing diagnosis, you review the data from assessment and sort the problems to determine which are appropriate to label as a nursing diagnosis—i.e., patient responses to health conditions that nurses are licensed to treat—rather than medical conditions the physician would diagnose. This categorization step is essential so the plan targets the patient’s nursing-sensitive outcomes with appropriate nursing interventions.

Prescribing medications falls under medical management, not a nursing diagnostic choice. Identifying an underlying disease is a medical diagnosis task rather than a nursing diagnosis decision. Developing treatment protocols is about planning care at a broader or protocol level, not about selecting the nursing diagnosis itself.