Diagnosis is a vital part of the nursing process and determines the effectiveness of the treatment and interventions adopted by the care team (Doenges & Moorhouse, 2012). This accentuates the need to bring all resources and expertise on board so as to arrive at the appropriate diagnosis. Wrong diagnosis is a pitfall that should be guarded at whatever cost since it results to poor patient outcomes.
There are different approaches and strategies for diagnosing and each of these strategies finds applicability in its unique situations. One of these approaches is the pattern recognition. Pattern recognition essentially involves the “instant” recognition of an illness or a disease based on the unique symptoms presented by the patient (Ackley & Ladwig, 2013). This diagnosing strategy basically relies on the healthcare provider’s clinical experience and a prior encounter with similar symptoms. One of the weaknesses of this approach is that its effectiveness is compromised in situations where the care provider lacks sound clinical experience (Meleis, 2011). On the other hand, while using this diagnosing approach, it is pretty easy to jump to a diagnosis prematurely before considering the possible alternatives (Ackley & Ladwig, 2013). Nonetheless, its use comes in handy especially in clinical settings which are busy.
Arguably, there are various diseases or health conditions that exhibit quite unique characteristics and whose manifestation do not overlap with any other disease, hence making it easy to rely on just the observable symptoms to make a diagnosis. Examples of conditions that have distinct characteristics include; Bell’s palsy, a severe case of hypothyroidism and bladder infection. By incorporating clinical experience and judgment skills by the care provider, it is agreeably easy to recognize a disease from just taking a keen look at the pattern of symptoms presented. For instance, when a patient presents with a drooping face, this is a unique characteristic of Bell’s palsy. Nonetheless, Bell’s palsy should only be considered as a diagnosis when the patient is devoid of other symptoms that characterize any condition that may lead to face drooping such as stroke.
References
Ackley, B. J., & Ladwig, G. B. (2013). Nursing diagnosis handbook: an evidence-based guide to planning care. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Doenges, M. E., & Moorhouse, M. F. (2012). Application of nursing process and nursing diagnosis: an interactive text for diagnostic reasoning. FA Davis.
Meleis, A. I. (2011). Theoretical nursing: Development and progress. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
