Clinical validation of ineffective breathing pattern, ineffective airway clearance, and impaired gas exchange

Standardized clinical validation was used to study hospitalized patients with one of three medical and surgical diagnoses, ineffective breathing pattern or airway clearance, or impaired gas exchange. It was found that clinical validation methods allow discrimination of defining characteristics and that data present do not necessarily characterize a diagnosis. Subjective cues such as the the patient's expression of fatigue or anxiety can be important for the diagnosis. The responses seen are important in nursing practice because they emerge in various diagnoses. Nurse validation as opposed to clinical validation is seen as valid.