American Research Journal of Nursing

 This paper presents the case study of a 74 year old man with liver cirrhosis and consumptive syndrome. Data was collected in a Brazilian university hospital. The case study approach used was outcome present state test (OPT) model. The assessment was made by using the Conceptual Model of Wanda Horta. Also, the NANDA-I, Inc., Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC), and Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC) linkages were used to capture accurate nursing care plan. The keystone nursing diagnosis was: Imbalanced nutrition: less than body requirements. The NOC outcomes chosen were Nutritional Status: Food and Fluid Intake; and Weight: Body Mass Control. The NIC interventions chosen for the patient were: Enteral Tube Feeding and Fluid Monitoring. The findings support that the use of a clinical reasoning web helps nurses to identify the priority focus of care in patients with complex health problem, and to prevent future complications associated with the evolution of disease. Future researches are needed to determine the NANDA-I, NOC, and NIC linkages based on a clinical reasoning model to capture accurate nursing care plan for all patients with chronic condition, in order to provide competent and safe care, thus improving patient outcomes.