Validation of addictions nursing diagnoses in a sample of alcohol abstainers 1 year posttreatment.

This study examined the fit between 26 Addictions Nursing diagnoses and a sample of clients who had maintained abstinence from alcohol use for 1 year after inpatient treatment for alcohol abuse. Data were obtained from interview transcriptions of 26 successful abstainers. Investigator identification of diagnoses were validated by expert nurse clinicians. Although participants had been abstinent for a year, 73% of the sample showed defining characteristics of 17 of the 26 diagnoses. In addition, the raters identified 3 human responses for which no diagnoses exist, 8 diagnoses that do not have defining characteristics that fit the data, and 13 additional defining characteristics that could be added to the list.