Final answer:
The most effective way of prioritizing nursing diagnoses is to assess factors like the severity of the illness, the number of infected individuals, treatability, preventability, and the impact on the community's health and healthcare resources.
Step-by-step explanation:
In prioritizing nursing diagnoses, the most effective way is not merely considering which diagnoses are reimbursable by third-party payers, how much the community cares about the problem, or if they align with an agency's mission statement. Instead, it involves a multifaceted approach where factors such as severity of the illness, the number of people infected, treatability, preventability, and the potential impact on patient quality of life and healthcare costs are taken into account. Understanding that resources are limited, these criteria help ensure that limited resources are allocated in a manner that maximizes the health benefits to the community.
For example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sets priorities based on similar factors. The CDC considers the number of people infected, the severity of the illness, and whether the illness can be treated or prevented. These criteria are used to determine which diseases receive more attention and funding for research, which directly impacts the development of diagnostic tests, treatments, and health policies. Moreover, addressing community public health needs efficiently requires collaboration among nurses, which is why discussing conclusions with another community/public health nurse is also a significant step in the prioritization process.
To establish effective health policies, certain questions must be considered, such as balancing treatment costs, patient quality of life, and risks to individual privacy. This becomes even more complex when addressing the ethical implications of deprioritizing diseases that may be overshadowed by more common or well-known illnesses.