Question

Nursing diagnosis need to be prioritized when providing effective client care. Place the following nursing diagnosis in order of importance with 1 being most important and 3 being least important.

Impaired Gas Exchange (A)

Risk for Falls (B)

Impaired Skin Integrity (C)

Answer 1

In prioritizing nursing diagnoses, Impaired Gas Exchange is most critical and therefore ranks as number 1, followed by Risk for Falls at number 2, with Impaired Skin Integrity being important but less immediately life-threatening at number 3.

Step-by-step explanation:

When prioritizing nursing diagnoses for client care, a nurse must consider the immediacy of threats to the patient's health and well-being. The nursing diagnoses should be ordered as follows:

1. Impaired Gas Exchange (A): As impaired gas exchange directly compromises oxygenation of tissues, which is critical for survival, this diagnosis is the most acute and should be given highest priority.
2. Risk for Falls (B): While important, this is a potential, rather than actual, problem and should be secondary to issues that are currently affecting the client's physiological status.
3. Impaired Skin Integrity (C): This is also important to address since it can affect a patient's recovery and lead to other complications, but it is generally less immediately life-threatening than impaired gas exchange.

It is essential for the nurse to continuously reassess these priorities as the client's condition changes to ensure effective care.