This was a pilot study with a pretest and posttest design to test the feasibility of conducting large-scale studies of the effects of using computer-based terms from NANDA, NIC, and NOC on nurses' power to help children and children's health outcomes. Four hypotheses were tested with data from 12 public health nurses in school settings and 220 schoolchildren. Group A comprised six nurses who used SNAP Health Center (SNAP 98) software to record health visits with 117 children. Group B comprised six nurses who used the same software and NANDA, NIC, and NOC with 103 children. After use of the software, the power of the 12 nurses to help children significantly increased. For the 220 children, the number of coping strategies significantly increased but there were no changes in the other health outcomes. The hypotheses indicating that Group B nurses and children would have more positive changes than Group A were not supported. Positive and negative elements for large-scale studies were identified.

TOPIC.Studies to establish construct and criterion‐related validity of nursing diagnoses. PURPOSE.The overwhelming majority of previous studies addressed content validation by nurse experts. This paper describes strategies to move beyond content validation research to construct and criterion‐related validation. SOURCES.The range of studies that should be conducted for development of nursing diagnoses are reviewed with examples drawn from the field of psychology. Existing studies on the diagnoses of ineffective breathing pattern, ineffective airway clearance and impaired gas exchange are used as examples. CONCLUSIONS.Many types of studies are needed for each nursing diagnosis. Increased funding and support for nursing diagnosis research will be facilitated by attention to the accuracy of nurses' diagnoses and outcomes of the diagnostic process.