“Call for the use of axial terms”: toward completeness of NANDA-I nursing diagnoses labels

PURPOSE: This article explores the current structure of NANDA-I nursing diagnoses (ND) labels. METHODS: Critical analysis of the ND labels, as categorized in the NANDA-I terminology. FINDINGS: Most of the 244 ND labels are composed of terms from the focus and judgment axes. CONCLUSIONS: The specificity of the human responses toward health and life transitions may not be totally represented in the two most common axes, as categorized within taxonomy II. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE: Improvements in NANDA-I diagnosis labels would contribute to an advanced terminology and to increased specificity and accuracy of the diagnostic process that is needed in clinical practice. Completeness of the ND labels would reflect clinical reasoning preciseness and help students and nurses in delivering more personalized, safe, and effective patient-centered care.