From DDC to CDC: expanding our vision of nursing knowledge

For many years, the Diagnosis Development Committee (DDC) has played a central role in advancing nursing knowledge through the refinement of NANDA® nursing diagnoses. The work of countless volunteers and experts has helped ensure that nursing diagnoses remain evidence-based, clinically meaningful, and relevant to nurses around the world.

As NANDA International transitions to the International Nursing Knowledge Association (INKA), the DDC is becoming the Classification Development Committee (CDC).

This name change reflects a broader vision for the future. The DDC’s primary focus was the review of nursing diagnoses. The CDC will continue this important work, but its scope extends further. Within the emerging NANDA 360 framework, diagnoses are no longer viewed as isolated concepts. Instead, they are part of an integrated nursing knowledge system that connects assessment findings, diagnoses, outcomes, goals, and nursing actions to support clinical reasoning and decision-making.

The expansion of the committee’s scope is not simply an organizational change; it reflects the natural evolution of nursing knowledge as both a science and a practice discipline. Over many years, nurses, educators, researchers, informaticians, and healthcare leaders have highlighted the limitations created by fragmented knowledge systems and disconnected clinical workflows. The development of NANDA 360, and the transition from DDC to CDC, represents a deliberate response to these concerns, informed by evidence, professional experience, and ongoing dialogue with the global nursing community. Our goal remains unchanged: to strengthen nursing knowledge in ways that support assessment-driven, diagnosis-centered clinical reasoning, improve patient care, and reinforce the essential contribution of nurses across healthcare systems worldwide.

The CDC will help ensure that the classification continues to evolve in response to new evidence. Importantly, this transition does not represent a departure from our past. Rather, it builds on the foundation established by the DDC while embracing new opportunities to strengthen nursing knowledge for the future.

About the Author

Dr. Takáo Lopes, RN, PhD, is Director of the Classification Development Committee (CDC, formerly DDC) for the International Nursing Knowledge Association (INKA) and an Adjunct Professor at the Escola Paulista de Enfermagem, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Brazil. A NANDA-I Fellow and co-editor of NANDA International Nursing Diagnoses: Definitions and Classification since 2021, she is an internationally recognized scholar and speaker on nursing classifications and clinical reasoning.