The nursing diagnosis provides the basis for the selection of what?

• A. Lab tests
• B. Physician orders
• C. Insurance codes
• D. Nursing interventions

Answer: (D)

The main idea is that a nursing diagnosis guides what nursing actions to take to address the patient’s identified problem. Once a diagnosis is made, the care plan is built around specific nursing interventions aimed at alleviating or resolving that problem and achieving measurable outcomes. Lab tests and physician orders come from medical decisions and the physician’s plan of care, while insurance codes are for billing and do not determine nursing actions. For example, if the diagnosis is Acute pain related to a surgical incision, the interventions would include providing analgesia per protocol, offering comfort measures, and reassessing pain after interventions. The nursing diagnosis tells you what actions the nurse should perform, not which labs to run or which physician orders to write.