Nursing diagnoses in intensive care: cross-mapping and NANDA-I taxonomy

Objective: to identify nursing diagnoses in intensive care unit (ICU) patients by means of a cross-mapping of terms contained in nursing records with the NANDA-I taxonomy. Method: an exploratory, descriptive study with a retrospective analysis of nursing records in 256 medical records of patients that were hospitalized in the general ICU of a hospital in the western border of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Terms indicating conditions demanding nursing interventions were collected from the records; cross-mapping of these terms with the NANDA-I taxonomy diagnoses was performed and confirmed in a nursing focus group. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistics. Results: a total of 832 terms and expressions referring to 52 different diagnoses in 9 of the 13 domains of the NANDA-I taxonomy were identified. Conclusion: the present study enabled the identification of nursing diagnoses in patients hospitalized in ICUs, affecting care management, the training process of experts in the area, and information systems.