Aim: The purpose of this literature review is to provide a synthesis of the most relevant studies describing nursing work in mental health by means of NNN taxonomy.
Method: Literature from 1990 to September 2011 was reviewed using the "scoping review" methodology. Three independent reviewers examined the articles which were found and selected those fulfilling the inclusion criteria for subsequent analysis.
Results: From the 220 articles obtained, 14 studies were finally included and divided into two groups. The aim of the first ten papers was examining the most frequent NANDA nursing diagnosis or/and NIC nursing interventions in different mental health care settings. The remaining four articles describe health care plans for psychiatric patients developed with NNN taxonomy. Combining results from both groups, the most prevalent diagnostic labels are: disturbed thought processes and impaired social interaction.
Conclusions: This review has illustrated the lack of evidence in relation to NNN taxonomy in the field of mental health and the need of further research in this area.