In 1973 Kristine M. Gebbie and Mary Ann Lavin convened the First National Conference on Nursing Diagnoses, which led to the establishment of the Task Force of the National Conference Group on the Classification of Nursing Diagnoses, later known as North American Nursing Diagnosis Association (NANDA) and then NANDA International (NANDA-I). Boston College faculty member Marjory Gordon chaired the Task Force and served in that role until she became the first elected president of NANDA in 1982.

The Task Force managed a biennial conference supported by the Clearinghouse for Nursing Diagnoses at St. Louis University. The Clearinghouse published the Nursing Diagnosis newsletter, coordinated conference planning, and served as a depository and distribution center for bibliographies in each diagnostic category. Through conference work, the Task Force developed a controlled vocabulary and taxonomy of diagnoses approved by a vote of attendees. The conferences also provided a platform for sharing nursing diagnosis scholarship. The Task Force published conference proceedings beginning from the first conference (1974). The approved diagnoses from each conference were released as alphabetical listings within the conference proceedings.

The Task Force included several standing committees (e.g. Diagnosis Review, Membership, Program) as well as ad-hoc groups. In 1977 the Nurse Theorist Group, facilitated by Callista Roy, was added to the standing committees. The group produced a theoretical framework that was the basis for the work of the later Taxonomy Committee, created in 1982.

In 1982, the Task Force became the North American Nursing Diagnosis Association (NANDA), a nonprofit organization with membership from the United States and Canada. NANDA continued the practice of biennial conferences, with final diagnoses now approved by a vote of the full membership, and published conference proceedings. Administrative oversight for NANDA was provided by a board of directors (all elected officers) and an executive director, initially a part-time position, who managed administrative and fiscal responsibilities.

NANDA published its first taxonomy of nursing diagnoses, Taxonomy I, in 1987. In 1990 the Nursing Diagnosis newsletter was replaced by a professional journal of the same name. Beginning in about 1992 NANDA also published diagnoses with definitions as NANDA Nursing Diagnoses: Definitions and Classification, re-released biennially.

The American Nurses Association (ANA) and NANDA collaborated extensively in the 1980s on diagnosis classification through ANA’s Steering Committee on the Classification of Nursing Practice Phenomena and the Nursing Organization Liaison Forum. NANDA also contributed to the World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases (ICD). In 1997 NANDA began joint meetings with Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC) and National Outcome Classification (NOC), presenting joint conferences in 2002-2004.

After two decades of increasing activity in publishing and collaboration, NANDA rebranded itself in 2002 as NANDA International (NANDA-I) to better reflect their growing global scope.

Sources:

Board meetings and minutes, box 8, folders 2-21, NANDA International records, MS.1998.006, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

NANDA historical timeline, box 10, folder 14, NANDA International records, MS.1998.006, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

"Introduction to Classification of Nursing Diagnoses." NANDA Nursing Diagnoses: Definitions and Classification. St. Louis, MO: NANDA, 1992.

Presidents:

Marjory Gordon (Chair 1973-1982), 1982-1988

Jane Lancour, 1988-1993

Lois Hoskins, 1993-1996

Judith Warren, 1996-1998

Dorothy A. Jones, 1998-2000

Kay Coalson Avant, 2000-2002

Mary Ann Lavin, 2002-2004

Martha Craft-Rosenberg, 2004-2006

T. Heather Herdman, 2008-2010

Jane Brokel, 2010–2012

Dickon Weir-Hughes, 2012–2016

Shigemi Kamitsuru, 2016–2020

Carme Espinosa, 2020–2023

Laura Rossi, 2023–2025

Hortensia Castañeda-Hidalgo, 2025-



Executive directors:

Karen Murphy, 1983 or 1984-1986

Debbi Folkerts, 1986-1993

Joseph Braden (employed by Nursecom, Inc.), 1994-1998

Joe Mason (NANDA services coordinator), 1998–2008

T. Heather Herdman, 2008–2016



Chief Executive Officers:

T. Heather Herdman, 2016-