Nursing diagnosis is increasingly recognized as an integral component of professional nursing practice. Implementation of nursing diagnosis impacts on all elements of professional practice: the philosophy, purpose, and objectives of an organization; care planning; quality assurance; staff education; performance standards; the nursing care delivery system; documentation; and patient classification. A guide organized around these elements has been developed to assist with the implementation of nursing diagnosis. This guide can be used to gather information to plan for the implementation of nursing diagnosis or as a post‐test to judge the success of the implementation proces