Publications on pain and nursing diagnosis in a Brazilian database.

Abstract

The practical utilization of nursing diagnostics and interventions during professional practice and the analysis of the scientific production on diagnosis can help outline published knowledge. The objective of this study was to identify references related to the diagnosis of pain by nurses in a Brazilian nursing database (BDEnf). A systematic literature survey was carried out by electronic search, using the combination of the words “pain” and “nursing diagnosis”. A total number of 21 references were found until December, 2006. Eighteen references were included in the study. In 12 studies, pain was one of the diagnoses found in articles that aimed making diagnosis in different populations. It was concluded that the studies included in that nursing database show that pain diagnosis by nurses has become a trend in the nurses’ clinical practice.