[Implementation of nursing diagnosis at a university hospital: a participatory experience].

The Nursing Department (ND) at the University Hospital of the University of Sao Paulo (USP) started the process of implementing the Nursing Diagnosis (DEn) classification system as a step of the Nursing Care System (NCS) in December 2001. In order to implement the DEns, a preliminary study was carried out at the Medical Clinic Unit, in which the nurses--based on North American Nursing Diagnosis Association International referential theory--selected the DEns, compatible nursing interventions, and built an instrument called "Nursing Diagnosis/Evaluation/Prescription". The development of the preliminary study allowed the DE manager to improve the implementation of DEn system and to stress the importance of the effective participation of the practice nurses. The methodology of this study was successfully reproduced in other units of the ND.