Outcomes Related to Dehydration in the Pediatric Population

The purpose of this pilot study was twofold: 1) to determine whether there was a statistically significant difference in nursing-sensitive patient outcome ratings from admission to discharge, and 2) to describe nursing interventions used to care for children admitted with a primary diagnosis of dehydration to a 272-bed Midwestern community hospital. Twenty-nine patient care records meeting study criteria were extracted from all pediatric admission records during the study period. The patient care records are part of a computerized clinical documentation system using the standardized nursing languages of the North American Nursing Diagnosis Association, the Nursing Interventions Classification, and the Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC). A statistically significant improvement in outcome ratings from admission to discharge was demonstrated for seven of eight NOC outcomes.