Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 May-Jun;69(3):362-369.
doi: 10.1016/j.outlook.2020.12.005. Epub 2021 Jan 14.

The critical need for nursing education to address the diagnostic process

Kelly Gleason  1 , Gene Harkless  2 , Joan Stanley  3 , Andrew P J Olson  4 , Mark L Graber  5
Affiliations

The critical need for nursing education to address the diagnostic process

Kelly Gleason et al. Nurs Outlook. 2021 May-Jun.

Abstract

Diagnostic errors are among the most common medical errors and the deadliest. The National Academy of Medicine recently concluded that diagnostic errors represent an urgent national concern. Their first recommendation to address this issue called for promoting the key role of the nurse in the diagnostic process. Registered nurses across clinical settings significantly contribute to the medical diagnostic process, though their role in diagnosis has historically gone unacknowledged. In this paper, we review the history and current state of diagnostic education in pre-licensure registered nurse preparation, introduce interprofessional individual- and team-based competencies to improve diagnostic safety, and discuss the next steps for nursing education. Nurses educated and empowered to fully participate in the diagnostic process are essential for achieving better, safer patient outcomes.

Keywords: Diagnostic error; Education; Nursing.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2008). The essentials of baccalaureate education for professional nursing practice. Retrieved from https://www.aacnnursing.org/portals/42/publications/baccessentials08.pdf
    1. American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2011). The essentials of master’s education in nursing. Retrieved from http://www.aacnnursing.org/portals/42/publications/mastersessentials11.pdf
    1. American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2020). Essentials Task Force. Retrieved from https://www.aacnnursing.org/About-AACN/AACN-Governance/Committees-and-Ta...
    1. Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing. Accreditation Manual Section III. Accessed October 21, 2020 at https://www.acenursing.org/acen-accreditation-manual-standards-b/.
    1. Blondon KS, Maître F, Muller-Juge V, Bochatay N, Cullati S, Hudelson P, Vu NV, Savoldelli GL, & Nendaz MR (2017). Interprofessional collaborative reasoning by residents and nurses in internal medicine: Evidence from a simulation study. Medical Teacher. 10.1080/0142159X.2017.1286309 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types