Objective: to undergo a content analysis of a metacognitive strategy of indirect assessment in the pre-encounter with the client.
Method: methodological study. Agreement and inter-rater reliability index for the criteria: relevance, adequacy, clarity, conciseness and accuracy of a technology to the nursing diagnosis reasoning for novices through an electronic form. The sample consisted of 13 raters. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.
Results: high agreement and inter-rater reliability for 85 items related to data collection stage and the strategy description. Only fi ve items did not reach the validation criteria and must be rewritten.
Conclusion: indirect assessment of the pre-encounter is relevant to the diagnostic reasoning process, being possible to develop competencies and diagnostic skills in the novice through strategies, proposals on innovative technology in the form of a diagram.