Anxiety in children following hospitalization: a proposal for a nursing diagnosis

OBJECTIVE: to describe the process of developing a nursing diagnosis regarding child anxiety following hospitalization, which is to be submitted to the international classification for nursing practice, in accordance with the guidelines set out by the International Council of Nurses and the ISO standard 18104:2014. METHOD: this methodological study includes a conceptual analysis that bases itself on analyzing the phenomena of anxiety and hospitalization, while identifying the critical attributes of the concept and developing an operational definition. RESULTS: all the criteria for including a new nursing concept were followed and there was no violation of the framework of the International Classification for Nursing Practice with the proposed inclusion, since the concept of anxiety already exists in this classification system and the concept of anxiety from hospitalization would be considered a species or subclass of this concept. CONCLUSION: this analysis of the concept of hospitalization anxiety in children allowed its meaning to be clarified and, consequently, understanding to be constructed regarding its practical applicability. This achievement contributed in terms of providing incentive to develop new proposals for nursing diagnoses to be included in the International Classification for Nursing Practice.