NANDA Nursing Diagnoses List 2024-2026: Complete Reference Guide

NANDA International (NANDA-I) maintains the globally recognized standardized taxonomy of nursing diagnoses. First published in 1982, the classification has evolved through decades of clinical research and validation to become the foundational language that nursing professionals use to identify, document, and communicate patient problems. The current edition, covering 2024-2026, contains 267 approved nursing diagnoses organized into 13 domains and 47 classes.

This guide provides an overview of the NANDA-I taxonomy structure, the most commonly used diagnoses in clinical practice, and practical guidance for selecting accurate diagnoses when writing nursing care plans.

What Is NANDA-I?

NANDA International is a professional organization that develops, researches, and refines the taxonomy of nursing diagnoses. The acronym originally stood for “North American Nursing Diagnosis Association,” but the organization rebranded to NANDA International in 2002 to reflect its global scope. Today, the NANDA-I taxonomy is used in nursing education and practice across North America, Europe, Asia, South America, and beyond.

The taxonomy is updated on a three-year cycle. Each edition includes new diagnoses that have been submitted by researchers and clinicians and accepted after peer review, revisions to existing diagnoses based on new evidence, and retirement of diagnoses that are no longer clinically supported.

Understanding the Taxonomy Structure

The NANDA-I taxonomy is organized hierarchically into domains, classes, and diagnoses:

Domains — 13 broad areas of nursing concern (e.g., Nutrition, Safety/Protection)
Classes — 47 subdivisions within domains that group related diagnoses (e.g., within the Nutrition domain, classes include Ingestion, Digestion, Absorption, and Metabolism)
Diagnoses — 267 specific clinical judgments, each with a unique code, definition, defining characteristics, related factors, and risk factors

The 13 NANDA-I Domains

Domain 1: Health Promotion

Awareness of well-being and the strategies used to maintain and enhance health. This domain covers diagnoses related to health management behaviors, health literacy, and readiness to improve health practices. Key diagnoses include:

Deficient Diversional Activity Engagement (00097)
Frail Elderly Syndrome (00257)
Ineffective Health Maintenance Behaviors (00292)
Ineffective Health Self-Management (00276)
Readiness for Enhanced Health Literacy (00262)
Readiness for Enhanced Health Self-Management (00293)

Domain 2: Nutrition

Activities of taking in, assimilating, and using nutrients for tissue maintenance, repair, and energy production. Covers ingestion, digestion, absorption, metabolism, and hydration.

Imbalanced Nutrition: Less Than Body Requirements (00002)
Imbalanced Nutrition: More Than Body Requirements (00001)
Impaired Swallowing (00103)
Risk for Unstable Blood Glucose Level (00179)
Risk for Electrolyte Imbalance (00195)
Deficient Fluid Volume (00027)
Excess Fluid Volume (00026)
Risk for Deficient Fluid Volume (00028)

Domain 3: Elimination and Exchange

Secretion and excretion of waste products from the body, as well as pulmonary gas exchange.

Constipation (00011)
Diarrhea (00013)
Bowel Incontinence (00014)
Impaired Urinary Elimination (00016)
Urinary Retention (00023)
Impaired Gas Exchange (00030)

Domain 4: Activity/Rest

Production, conservation, expenditure, and balance of energy resources. This is one of the largest domains, covering sleep, activity tolerance, cardiovascular responses, self-care, and energy balance.

Insomnia (00095)
Activity Intolerance (00092)
Impaired Physical Mobility (00085)
Impaired Walking (00088)
Decreased Cardiac Output (00029)
Ineffective Peripheral Tissue Perfusion (00204)
Fatigue (00093)
Self-Care Deficit: Bathing (00108)
Self-Care Deficit: Dressing (00109)
Self-Care Deficit: Feeding (00102)
Self-Care Deficit: Toileting (00110)
Ineffective Breathing Pattern (00032)

Domain 5: Perception/Cognition

Human information processing, including attention, orientation, sensation, perception, cognition, and communication.

Acute Confusion (00128)
Chronic Confusion (00129)
Deficient Knowledge (00126)
Impaired Verbal Communication (00051)
Impaired Memory (00131)
Unilateral Neglect (00123)

Domain 6: Self-Perception

Awareness of self, including body image, self-esteem, and personal identity.

Disturbed Body Image (00118)
Chronic Low Self-Esteem (00119)
Situational Low Self-Esteem (00120)
Risk for Compromised Human Dignity (00174)
Hopelessness (00124)

Domain 7: Role Relationships

Positive and negative connections and associations between persons or groups and the means by which those connections are demonstrated.

Impaired Social Interaction (00052)
Social Isolation (00053)
Caregiver Role Strain (00061)
Dysfunctional Family Processes (00063)
Impaired Parenting (00056)

Domain 8: Sexuality

Sexual identity, function, and reproduction.

Sexual Dysfunction (00059)
Ineffective Sexuality Pattern (00065)
Risk for Disturbed Maternal-Fetal Dyad (00235)

Domain 9: Coping/Stress Tolerance

Contending with life events and processes, including stress responses and coping strategies.

Anxiety (00146)
Fear (00148)
Ineffective Coping (00069)
Complicated Grieving (00135)
Post-Trauma Syndrome (00141)
Risk for Suicide (00150)
Risk for Self-Directed Violence (00140)
Powerlessness (00125)

Domain 10: Life Principles

Principles underlying conduct, thought, and behavior related to values, beliefs, and ethical considerations.

Moral Distress (00175)
Spiritual Distress (00066)
Decisional Conflict (00083)
Readiness for Enhanced Spiritual Well-Being (00068)

Domain 11: Safety/Protection

Freedom from danger, physical injury, or immune system damage. This domain includes infection, tissue integrity, thermoregulation, and environmental hazards.

Risk for Infection (00004)
Risk for Falls (00155)
Impaired Skin Integrity (00046)
Risk for Impaired Skin Integrity (00047)
Impaired Tissue Integrity (00044)
Risk for Pressure Injury (00249)
Ineffective Thermoregulation (00008)
Risk for Aspiration (00039)
Risk for Perioperative Positioning Injury (00087)
Risk for Thermal Injury (00220)

Domain 12: Comfort

Sense of mental, physical, or social well-being and ease.

Acute Pain (00132)
Chronic Pain (00133)
Nausea (00134)
Impaired Comfort (00214)

Domain 13: Growth/Development

Age-appropriate increases in physical dimensions, maturation of organ systems, and progression through developmental milestones.

Risk for Delayed Child Development (00305)
Risk for Delayed Infant Motor Development (00315)

Three Types of Nursing Diagnoses

Understanding the distinction between the three types is critical for accurate diagnosis selection and proper care plan formatting.

Actual Diagnoses

An actual diagnosis describes a health problem that is currently present and supported by assessment data. It is written using the PES format:

Problem — the NANDA-I label (e.g., Acute Pain)
Etiology — “related to” the cause (e.g., related to surgical incision)
Signs/Symptoms — “as evidenced by” the defining characteristics from your assessment (e.g., as evidenced by patient reporting pain at 7/10, guarding behavior, elevated heart rate)

The defining characteristics must come from your assessment data. You cannot diagnose “Impaired Skin Integrity” without actually observing a disruption in the skin surface.

Risk Diagnoses

A risk diagnosis identifies a vulnerability. The problem has not yet occurred, but risk factors from your assessment indicate the patient is at elevated risk. Risk diagnoses always begin with “Risk for” and do not include an etiology (“related to”) because there is no current problem to attribute to a cause. Instead, they include “as evidenced by” risk factors.

Example: Risk for Falls as evidenced by age over 65, unsteady gait, use of sedating medications, and Morse Fall Scale score of 55.

Health Promotion Diagnoses

Health promotion diagnoses describe a patient’s motivation and readiness to enhance a specific health behavior. They begin with “Readiness for Enhanced” and represent opportunities for growth rather than problems to solve. These diagnoses do not require related factors or risk factors — they are supported by the patient’s expressed desire to improve.

Example: Readiness for Enhanced Nutrition as evidenced by patient expressing desire to improve dietary habits and requesting nutritional counseling.

How to Select Accurate Nursing Diagnoses

Selecting the right diagnosis is the most intellectually demanding step in writing a care plan. Here is a systematic approach:

Cluster assessment data — Group related findings together. For example, cluster “productive cough, crackles in bases, SpO2 91%, respiratory rate 24” as a respiratory cluster.
Identify patterns — What health problems or risks do these clusters suggest? The respiratory cluster above suggests an airway clearance problem.
Browse the relevant domain — Navigate to the NANDA-I domain that matches the pattern. For respiratory issues, look at Domain 3 (Elimination and Exchange) and Domain 4 (Activity/Rest).
Compare defining characteristics — For each candidate diagnosis, compare the published defining characteristics against your assessment findings. The diagnosis with the closest match to your data is the most accurate choice.
Verify with related factors — Check that the related factors (etiology) align with your clinical situation. If the defining characteristics match but the related factors do not, consider a different diagnosis.
Prioritize — After identifying all relevant diagnoses, prioritize using Maslow’s hierarchy or the ABC framework.

CarePlanHQ automates this process by analyzing your assessment data against the full NANDA-I taxonomy and generating prioritized diagnoses with appropriate NIC/NOC linkages. It serves as both a time-saving tool and a learning reference for understanding how assessment findings map to standardized diagnoses.

Most Commonly Used NANDA-I Diagnoses in Clinical Practice

While the taxonomy contains 267 diagnoses, research shows that a core set of approximately 30-50 diagnoses accounts for the majority of clinical use. The most frequently used across settings include:

Acute Pain (00132)
Risk for Infection (00004)
Risk for Falls (00155)
Impaired Skin Integrity (00046)
Anxiety (00146)
Deficient Knowledge (00126)
Impaired Physical Mobility (00085)
Ineffective Airway Clearance (00031)
Imbalanced Nutrition: Less Than Body Requirements (00002)
Constipation (00011)
Risk for Unstable Blood Glucose Level (00179)
Decreased Cardiac Output (00029)
Excess Fluid Volume (00026)
Fatigue (00093)
Ineffective Coping (00069)

The specific mix varies by specialty. Critical care units use more cardiovascular and respiratory diagnoses, while long-term care facilities see more skin integrity, mobility, and self-care deficit diagnoses.

NANDA-I Diagnosis Codes Explained

Each NANDA-I diagnosis has a unique five-digit code (e.g., 00132 for Acute Pain). These codes serve several purposes:

Unique identification across languages and translations
Integration with electronic health record (EHR) systems
Linkage to NIC interventions and NOC outcomes in research databases
Tracking of diagnosis usage patterns for quality improvement

The codes are sequential but not organized by domain — a diagnosis added in the 2024 edition might have a code in the 00300 range regardless of which domain it belongs to. The domain/class structure provides the organizational framework, while codes provide unique identification.

Using NANDA-I with NIC and NOC

NANDA-I diagnoses are most powerful when linked to NIC interventions and NOC outcomes. This triad — sometimes called NNN (NANDA-NIC-NOC) — provides a complete, standardized framework for the entire care planning process. The published linkage research identifies which NIC interventions and NOC outcomes have been validated for each NANDA-I diagnosis, removing guesswork from care plan development.

For a comprehensive walkthrough of how these three systems work together, see our guide on how to write a nursing care plan.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many NANDA-I nursing diagnoses are there?

The NANDA-I taxonomy 2024-2026 contains 267 nursing diagnoses organized into 13 domains and 47 classes. Diagnoses are reviewed and updated every three years, with new diagnoses added, existing ones revised, and outdated ones retired.

What is the difference between actual, risk, and health promotion nursing diagnoses?

Actual diagnoses describe problems the patient currently has, supported by defining characteristics (signs and symptoms). Risk diagnoses identify vulnerabilities — the problem has not occurred yet but risk factors are present. Health promotion diagnoses describe a patient’s motivation and readiness to enhance a specific health behavior, even without a current problem.

What are the 13 NANDA-I domains?

The 13 domains are: (1) Health Promotion, (2) Nutrition, (3) Elimination and Exchange, (4) Activity/Rest, (5) Perception/Cognition, (6) Self-Perception, (7) Role Relationships, (8) Sexuality, (9) Coping/Stress Tolerance, (10) Life Principles, (11) Safety/Protection, (12) Comfort, and (13) Growth/Development.

Do I need to memorize all NANDA-I diagnoses?

No. Most clinical settings use a subset of 30-50 diagnoses regularly. Focus on learning the domains so you can navigate the taxonomy efficiently, and memorize the most common diagnoses in your specialty area. Use the NANDA-I reference or a care plan tool to look up the full list when writing care plans.