Despite Organizational Name Change, Nursing Diagnoses Remain Central to Our Mission

A few of you have verbalized concern that the change in our Association’s name from NANDA-I to the International Nursing Knowledge Association (INKA) in some way diminishes the importance of nursing diagnoses within the profession. We want to address these concerns directly and reassure our community about our unwavering commitment to nursing diagnostic excellence.

As discussed during the 2016 membership vote (and passed by an overwhelming majority), the new name of our Association reflects the fact that nursing diagnoses represent judgments made possible through the application of nursing knowledge.

We Are More Than Diagnoses

However, we are more than diagnoses. We incorporate assessment, clinical reasoning, and the nursing process.

So, while nursing diagnoses remain a critical component of INKA, we are also more: concept development that may lead to new diagnoses or refinement of current diagnoses; theory development that may explain or expand diagnoses; reinforcement of assessment methods that ensure holistic understanding of the patient and which lead to more accurate diagnoses; research methods that support the scientific evidence behind the diagnoses.

NANDA Classification Remains Highly Visible

Don’t worry – NANDA isn’t going away! It will still be quite visible in the name of our classification! We believe – as did those who voted for this change – that our center is nursing knowledge: its development, testing, and refinement.

Nursing diagnoses – our NANDA-I labels, definitions, and diagnostic criteria – reflect that knowledge, as judgments that nurses make based on the application of our disciplinary theories and knowledge.

Our expanded identity as INKA strengthens rather than weakens our commitment to nursing diagnoses.

By embracing the full spectrum of nursing knowledge development, we enhance our ability to provide the evidence-based diagnostic terminology that has made us the world’s leading authority in this field. Rest assured that nursing diagnoses remain at the heart of everything we do. They are simply supported by an even stronger foundation of comprehensive nursing knowledge!