Alteration in Growth and Development: A Nursing Diagnosis Validation Study

Abstract

A professional profile questionnaire and a case study questionnaire depicting a child with delayed development was mailed to 200 nurses of th e Michigan Nurses Association Division of Maternal and Child Health. Of th e 60 respondents, 27 (45.8%) indicated a diagnosis in the category of altered development as primary diagnosis for the child and 50 (83.3%) indicated a diagnosis in this category as either primary or secondary diagnosis for the child. Expertise scores based on level of education attained , years of experience in maternal - chilf health and in nursing, and experience with children were found to be significantly related to diagnosis of a l t e r e d development as either a primary or secondary diagnosis , but not to identification of over 75% of the cues which had been validated with content validity experts . Additionally, nurses with greater amounts of experience in nursing diagnosis were more likely to diagnose a developmental alteration .