1．Accuracy of Nurses' Diagnoses―Foundation for Computer-Based Documentation

　The ideas expressed in this paper are based on the assumption that nursing's focus of helping people to achieve optimum health is very complex and requires more attention to accuracy of nurses' diagnoses than was previously included in nursing education and practice (Lunney, ²⁰⁰¹⁾. This conference is focused on use of computers for documentation of healthcare events because, globally, we are moving from paper-based to computer-based health records.

　It is generally thought that at least three nursing care elements are important to include in computer systems: nursing diagnoses, nursing interventions, and patient outcomes that are sensitive to changes in nursing care. The purpose of this paper is to (a) explain the need for accuracy of nurses' diagnoses as the foundation for nursing data in computer systems, (b) present a case study to illustrate the risk of low accuracy, (c) explain seven levels of accuracy, and (d) explain the influencing factors for accuracy related to nurse diagnosticians, especially critical thinking.