This cross-sectional study aimed to clinically validate the defining characteristics of the Nursing Diagnosis Excess Fluid Volume in patients with decompensated heart failure. The validation model used follows the model of Fehring. The subjects were 32 patients at a university hospital in Rio Grande do Sul. The average age was 60.5 ± 14.3 years old. The defining characteristics with higher reliability index (R): R ≥ 0.80 were: dyspnea, orthopnea, edema, positive hepatojugular reflex, paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea, pulmonary congestion and elevated central venous pressure, and minor or secondary, R> 0.50 to 0.79: weight gain, hepatomegaly, jugular vein distention, crackles, oliguria, decreased hematocrit and hemoglobin. This study indicates that the defining characteristics with R> 0.50 and 1 were validated for the diagnosis Excess Fluid Volume.
Heart Failure; Nursing Diagnoses; Medical History Taking
