What is the nursing diagnosis for acute gastroenteritis?

Answer 1

There are several nursing diagnoses for this medical diagnosis. Fluid Volume Deficit comes to mind, as in this illness we tend to see profuse vomiting and diarrhea. Imbalanced nutrition; less than body requirements also comes to mind, since often patients with this illness are nauseated and not eating very much. Knowledge deficit is a third that comes to mind. They may not know how best to treat their symptoms, and perhaps more importantly many patients with limited medical knowledge may assume that their infection can be treated with antibiotics (often time gastroenteritis is viral, so an antibiotic won't help and may worsen the problem by disrupting the normal gut flora). Managing their hydration status is a top priority, teaching about diets such as the BRAT diet is important to maintain the patient's nutritional status, and finally teaching about methods to alleviate their symptoms, as well as education about the course of the illness is needed.