Contexts for the Study of the Economic Influence of Nursing Diagnoses on Patient Outcomes.

PURPOSE. To examine the historical, legal/ organizational, informatics, clinical, economic, and policy contexts underlying economic consequences of nursing diagnoses on patient outcomes. DATA SOURCES. Published literature, online material. DATA SYNTHESIS. Nursing diagnoses influence diagnostic-specific patient outcomes and other outcome variables such as length of hospital stay, morbidity, and mortality. CONCLUSIONS. Examination of the economic ramifications of nursing diagnosis on patient outcomes can be facilitated using standardized language and databases containing nursing-sensitive measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]