OBJECTIVE: To identify - together with working nurses at a Postoperative Cardiac Intensive Care Unit - the nursing diagnoses of patients in the postoperative period of cardiac surgery, with the intention of, in the future, implement the nursing process on that unit. METHODS: This is a qualitative study based on convergent-care research. Data were obtained from nursing records of 20 patients who underwent surgery in April 2008, plus the professional experience of six participating nurses from the convergence group who met for five sessions. RESULTS: 15 diagnoses were established according to Taxonomy II of the North American Nursing Diagnosis Association, which were corroborated by other authors. CONCLUSION: The identification of standard nursing diagnoses, in postoperative cardiac surgery patients, can guide the nursing care and subsidize the development of interventions that have solid basis and are appropriate to individual needs that patients have.
Nursing diagnosis; Postoperative care; Cardiac surgical procedures