The current state of, and outstanding issues relating to, nursing diagnosis, as taught in basic nursing education in Japan —Based on a questionnaire study implemented by nursing universities—

This report attempts to ascertain the current state of, and outstanding issues relating to, nursing diagnosis, as taught in nursing education in Japan, and to obtain basic resources that will allow the improvement of said nursing diagnosis training. A self-completed, anonymous survey was carried out in regard to teaching staff responsible for classes in “nursing process” or “nursing diagnosis” at 183 university institutions involved in nursing education nationwide. Responses were received from 82 people, which clarified the following three points. 1) Of the 63 universities teaching nursing process as an independent subject, approximately 62% included nursing diagnosis. 2) A diverse range of educational materials were used in nursing diagnosis training, including NANDA-I nursing diagnosis. 3) In implementing nursing process using nursing diagnosis, issues raised included the following: the limitations of education “on paper”, using theoretical patients, insufficient skills among teaching staff, the difficulty of realizing practical training in a clinical setting, and the tendency to try to make a simple diagnosis fit the circumstances. In the future, this study suggests that it may be important to create a set of guidelines guaranteeing a minimum level of educational content in relation to nursing diagnosis, which must be learned before graduation.