Final answer:
A nursing diagnosis is a clinical judgment about individual, family, or community responses to actual or potential health problems or life processes, based on assessment data. It directs nursing interventions and is classified using systems such as the WHO's ICD.
Step-by-step explanation:
A nursing diagnosis is a clinical judgment regarding human experiences or responses to health conditions or life processes, based on assessment data. Unlike a medical diagnosis, which identifies a specific disease, a nursing diagnosis focuses on the patient's response to that condition. It provides the basis for the selection of nursing interventions to achieve outcomes for which the nurse is accountable.
In health care, a diagnosis is often made after consideration of symptoms, which are subjective experiences reported by the patient, and signs, which are objective evidence of disease. This process involves a careful analysis of the information collected through various means, including the patient's history, physical examination, and diagnostic tests.
The World Health Organization's (WHO) International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is a system used globally to classify and code such diagnoses. A nursing diagnosis could be part of the care planning process in a range of health care settings, including nursing homes, hospitals, and outpatient clinics.