the nursing process essay

The Nursing Process: A Comprehensive Guide

In 1958, Ida Jean Orlando began developing the nursing process still evident in nursing care today. According to Orlando’s theory, the patient’s behavior sets the nursing process in motion. Through the nurse’s knowledge to analyze and diagnose the behavior to determine the patient’s needs.

Application of the fundamental principles of critical thinking, client-centered approaches to treatment, goal-oriented tasks, evidence-based practice (EBP) recommendations, and nursing intuition, the nursing process functions as a systematic guide to client-centered care with five subsequent steps. These are assessment , diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation ( ADPIE ).

Table of Contents

What is the nursing process.

• What is the purpose of the nursing process? 

Characteristics of the nursing process

Nursing process steps, collecting data, objective data or signs, subjective data or symptoms, verbal data, nonverbal data, primary source, secondary source, tertiary source, health interview, physical examination, observation, validating data, documenting data.

• 2. Diagnosis: “What is the problem?” 

Initial Planning

Ongoing planning, discharge planning, developing a nursing care plan, behavioral nursing interventions, community nursing interventions, family nursing interventions, health system nursing interventions, physiological nursing interventions, safety nursing interventions, skills used in implementing nursing care, 1. reassessing the client, 2. determining the nurse’s need for assistance, nursing intervention categories, independent nursing interventions, dependent nursing interventions, interdependent nursing interventions, 4. supervising the delegated care, 5. documenting nursing activities, 1. collecting data, 2. comparing data with desired outcomes, 3. analyzing client’s response relating to nursing activities, 4. identifying factors contributing to success or failure, 5. continuing, modifying, or terminating the nursing care plan, 6. discharge planning.

The nursing process is defined as a systematic, rational method of planning that guides all nursing actions in delivering holistic and patient-focused care. The nursing process is a form of scientific reasoning and requires the nurse’s critical thinking to provide the best care possible to the client.

What is the purpose of the nursing process?

The following are the purposes of the nursing process:

• To identify the client’s health status and actual or potential health care problems or needs (through assessment).
• To establish plans to meet the identified needs.
• To deliver specific nursing interventions to meet those needs.
• To apply the best available caregiving evidence and promote human functions and responses to health and illness (ANA, 2010).
• To protect nurses against legal problems related to nursing care when the standards of the nursing process are followed correctly.
• To help the nurse perform in a systematically organized way their practice.
• To establish a database about the client’s health status, health concerns, response to illness, and the ability to manage health care needs.

The following are the unique characteristics of the nursing process: 

• Patient-centered . The unique approach of the nursing process requires care respectful of and responsive to the individual patient’s needs, preferences, and values. The nurse functions as a patient advocate by keeping the patient’s right to practice informed decision-making and maintaining patient-centered engagement in the health care setting.
• Interpersonal . The nursing process provides the basis for the therapeutic process in which the nurse and patient respect each other as individuals, both of them learning and growing due to the interaction. It involves the interaction between the nurse and the patient with a common goal.
• Collaborative . The nursing process functions effectively in nursing and inter-professional teams, promoting open communication, mutual respect, and shared decision-making to achieve quality patient care.
• Dynamic and cyclical .The nursing process is a dynamic, cyclical process in which each phase interacts with and is influenced by the other phases.
• Requires critical thinking . The use of the nursing process requires critical thinking which is a vital skill required for nurses in identifying client problems and implementing interventions to promote effective care outcomes.

The nursing process consists of five steps: assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation. The acronym ADPIE is an easy way to remember the components of the nursing process. Nurses need to learn how to apply the process step-by-step. However, as critical thinking develops through experience, they learn how to move back and forth among the steps of the nursing process.

The steps of the nursing process are not separate entities but overlapping, continuing subprocesses. Apart from understanding nursing diagnoses and their definitions, the nurse promotes awareness of defining characteristics and behaviors of the diagnoses, related factors to the selected nursing diagnoses, and the interventions suited for treating the diagnoses.

The steps of the nursing process are detailed below:

1. Assessment: “What data is collected?”

The first phase of the nursing process is assessment . It involves collecting, organizing, validating, and documenting the clients’ health status. This data can be obtained in a variety of ways. Usually, when the nurse first encounters a patient, the nurse is expected to assess to identify the patient’s health problems as well as the physiological, psychological, and emotional state and to establish a database about the client’s response to health concerns or illness and the ability to manage health care needs. Critical thinking skills are essential to the assessment, thus requiring concept-based curriculum changes.

Data collection is the process of gathering information regarding a client’s health status. The process must be systematic and continuous in collecting data to prevent the omission of important information concerning the client.

The best way to collect data is through head-to-toe assessment. Learn more about it at our guide: Head to Toe Assessment: Complete Physical Assessment Guide

Types of Data

Data collected about a client generally falls into objective or subjective categories, but data can also be verbal and nonverbal. 

Objective data are overt, measurable, tangible data collected via the senses, such as sight, touch, smell, or hearing, and compared to an accepted standard, such as vital signs, intake and output , height and weight, body temperature, pulse, and respiratory rates, blood pressure, vomiting , distended abdomen, presence of edema , lung sounds, crying, skin color, and presence of diaphoresis.

Subjective data involve covert information, such as feelings, perceptions, thoughts, sensations, or concerns that are shared by the patient and can be verified only by the patient, such as nausea , pain , numbness, pruritus, attitudes, beliefs, values, and perceptions of the health concern and life events.

Verbal data are spoken or written data such as statements made by the client or by a secondary source. Verbal data requires the listening skills of the nurse to assess difficulties such as slurring, tone of voice, assertiveness, anxiety , difficulty in finding the desired word, and flight of ideas.

Nonverbal data are observable behavior transmitting a message without words, such as the patient’s body language, general appearance, facial expressions, gestures, eye contact, proxemics (distance), body language, touch, posture, clothing. Nonverbal data obtained can sometimes be more powerful than verbal data, as the client’s body language may not be congruent with what they really think or feel. Obtaining and analyzing nonverbal data can help reinforce other forms of data and understand what the patient really feels.

Sources of Data

Sources of data can be primary, secondary, and tertiary . The client is the primary source of data, while family members, support persons, records and reports, other health professionals, laboratory and diagnostics fall under secondary sources.

The client is the only primary source of data and the only one who can provide subjective data. Anything the client says or reports to the members of the healthcare team is considered primary.

A source is considered secondary data if it is provided from someone else other than the client but within the client’s frame of reference. Information provided by the client’s family or significant others are considered secondary sources of data if the client cannot speak for themselves, is lacking facts and understanding, or is a child. Additionally, the client’s records and assessment data from other nurses or other members of the healthcare team are considered secondary sources of data.

Sources from outside the client’s frame of reference are considered tertiary sources of data . Examples of tertiary data include information from textbooks, medical and nursing journals, drug handbooks, surveys, and policy and procedural manuals.

Methods of Data Collection

The main methods used to collect data are health interviews, physical examination, and observation.

The most common approach to gathering important information is through an interview. An interview is an intended communication or a conversation with a purpose, for example, to obtain or provide information, identify problems of mutual concern, evaluate change, teach, provide support, or provide counseling or therapy. One example of the interview is the nursing health history, which is a part of the nursing admission assessment. Patient interaction is generally the heaviest during the assessment phase of the nursing process so rapport must be established during this step.

Aside from conducting interviews, nurses will perform physical examinations, referencing a patient’s health history, obtaining a patient’s family history, and general observation can also be used to gather assessment data. Establishing a good physical assessment would, later on, provide a more accurate diagnosis, planning, and better interventions and evaluation.

Observation is an assessment tool that depends on the use of the five senses (sight, touch, hearing, smell, and taste) to learn information about the client. This information relates to characteristics of the client’s appearance, functioning, primary relationships, and environment. Although nurses observe mainly through sight, most of the senses are engaged during careful observations such as smelling foul odors, hearing or auscultating lung and heart sounds and feeling the pulse rate and other palpable skin deformations.

Validation is the process of verifying the data to ensure that it is accurate and factual. One way to validate observations is through “double-checking,” and it allows the nurse to complete the following tasks:

• Ensures that assessment information is double-checked, verified, and complete. For example, during routine assessment, the nurse obtains a reading of 210/96 mm Hg of a client with no history of hypertension . To validate the data, the nurse should retake the blood pressure and if necessary, use another equipment to confirm the measurement or ask someone else to perform the assessment.
• Ensure that objective and related subjective data are valid and accurate. For example, the client’s perceptions of “feeling hot” need to be compared with the measurement of the body temperature.
• Ensure that the nurse does not come to a conclusion without adequate data to support the conclusion. A nurse assumes tiny purple or bluish-black swollen areas under the tongue of an older adult client to be abnormal until reading about physical changes of aging.
• Ensure that any ambiguous or vague statements are clarified. For example, a 86-year-old female client who is not a native English speaker says that “I am in pain on and off for 4 weeks,” would require verification for clarity from the nurse by asking “Can you describe what your pain is like? What do you mean by on and off?”
• Acquire additional details that may have been overlooked. For example, the nurse is asking a 32-year-old client if he is allergic to any prescription or non-prescription medications. And what would happen if he takes these medications.
• Distinguish between cues and inferences. Cues are subjective or objective data that can be directly observed by the nurse; that is, what the client says or what the nurse can see, hear, feel, smell, or measure. On the other hand, inferences are the nurse’s interpretation or conclusions made based on the cues. For example, the nurse observes the cues that the incision is red, hot, and swollen and makes an inference that the incision is infected.

Once all the information has been collected, data can be recorded and sorted. Excellent record-keeping is fundamental so that all the data gathered is documented and explained in a way that is accessible to the whole health care team and can be referenced during evaluation. 

2. Diagnosis: “What is the problem?”

The second step of the nursing process is the nursing diagnosis . The nurse will analyze all the gathered information and diagnose the client’s condition and needs. Diagnosing involves analyzing data, identifying health problems, risks, and strengths, and formulating diagnostic statements about a patient’s potential or actual health problem. More than one diagnosis is sometimes made for a single patient. Formulating a nursing diagnosis by employing clinical judgment assists in the planning and implementation of patient care.

The types, components, processes, examples, and writing nursing diagnosis are discussed more in detail here “ Nursing Diagnosis Guide: All You Need To Know To Master Diagnosing ”

3. Planning: “How to manage the problem?”

Planning is the third step of the nursing process. It provides direction for nursing interventions. When the nurse, any supervising medical staff, and the patient agree on the diagnosis, the nurse will plan a course of treatment that takes into account short and long-term goals. Each problem is committed to a clear, measurable goal for the expected beneficial outcome. 

The planning phase is where goals and outcomes are formulated that directly impact patient care based on evidence-based practice (EBP) guidelines. These patient-specific goals and the attainment of such assist in ensuring a positive outcome. Nursing care plans are essential in this phase of goal setting. Care plans provide a course of direction for personalized care tailored to an individual’s unique needs. Overall condition and comorbid conditions play a role in the construction of a care plan. Care plans enhance communication, documentation, reimbursement, and continuity of care across the healthcare continuum.

Types of Planning

Planning starts with the first client contact and resumes until the nurse-client relationship ends, preferably when the client is discharged from the health care facility.

Initial planning is done by the nurse who conducts the admission assessment. Usually, the same nurse would be the one to create the initial comprehensive plan of care.

Ongoing planning is done by all the nurses who work with the client. As a nurse obtain new information and evaluate the client’s responses to care, they can individualize the initial care plan further. An ongoing care plan also occurs at the beginning of a shift. Ongoing planning allows the nurse to:

• determine if the client’s health status has changed
• set priorities for the client during the shift
• decide which problem to focus on during the shift
• coordinate with nurses to ensure that more than one problem can be addressed at each client contact

Discharge planning is the process of anticipating and planning for needs after discharge. To provide continuity of care, nurses need to accomplish the following:

• Start discharge planning for all clients when they are admitted to any health care setting.
• Involve the client and the client’s family or support persons in the planning process.
• Collaborate with other health care professionals as needed to ensure that biopsychosocial, cultural, and spiritual needs are met.

A nursing care plan (NCP) is a formal process that correctly identifies existing needs and recognizes potential needs or risks. Care plans provide communication among nurses, their patients, and other healthcare providers to achieve health care outcomes. Without the nursing care planning process, the quality and consistency of patient care would be lost.

The planning step of the nursing process is discussed in detail in Nursing Care Plans (NCP): Ultimate Guide and Database .

4. Implementation : “Putting the plan into action!”

The implementation phase of the nursing process is when the nurse puts the treatment plan into effect. It involves action or doing and the actual carrying out of nursing interventions outlined in the plan of care. This typically begins with the medical staff conducting any needed medical interventions. 

Interventions should be specific to each patient and focus on achievable outcomes. Actions associated with a nursing care plan include monitoring the patient for signs of change or improvement, directly caring for the patient or conducting important medical tasks such as medication administration , educating and guiding the patient about further health management, and referring or contacting the patient for a follow-up.

A taxonomy of nursing interventions referred to as the Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC) taxonomy, was developed by the Iowa Intervention Project. The nurse can look up a client’s nursing diagnosis to see which nursing interventions are recommended. 

Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC) System

There are more than 550 nursing intervention labels that nurses can use to provide the proper care to their patients. These interventions are categorized into seven fields or classes of interventions according to the Nursing Interventions Classification system.

These are interventions designed to help a patient change their behavior. With behavioral interventions, in contrast, patient behavior is the key and the goal is to modify it. The following measures are examples of behavioral nursing interventions:

• Encouraging stress and relaxation techniques
• Providing support to quit smoking
• Engaging the patient in some form of physical activity , like walking, to reduce the patient’s anxiety, anger, and hostility

These are interventions that refer to the community-wide approach to health behavior change. Instead of focusing mainly on the individual as a change agent, community interventionists recognize a host of other factors that contribute to an individual’s capacity to achieve optimal health, such as:

• Implementing an education program for first-time mothers
• Promoting diet and physical activities
• Initiating HIV awareness and violence-prevention programs
• Organizing a fun run to raise money for breast cancer research 

These are interventions that influence a patient’s entire family.

• Implementing a family-centered approach in reducing the threat of illness spreading when one family member is diagnosed with a communicable disease
• Providing a nursing woman support in breastfeeding her new baby
• Educating family members about caring for the patient

These are interventions that designed to maintain a safe medical facility for all patients and staff, such as:

• Following procedures to reduce the risk of infection for patients during hospital stays.
• Ensuring that the patient’s environment is safe and comfortable, such as repositioning them to avoid pressure ulcers in bed

These are interventions related to a patient’s physical health to make sure that any physical needs are being met and that the patient is in a healthy condition. These nursing interventions are classified into two types: basic and complex.

• Basic. Basic interventions regarding the patient’s physical health include hands-on procedures ranging from feeding to hygiene assistance.
• Complex. Some physiological nursing interventions are more complex, such as the insertion of an IV line to administer fluids to a dehydrated patient.

These are interventions that maintain a patient’s safety and prevent injuries, such as:

• Educating a patient about how to call for assistance if they are not able to safely move around on their own
• Providing instructions for using assistive devices such as walkers or canes, or how to take a shower safely.

When implementing care, nurses need cognitive, interpersonal, and technical skills to perform the care plan successfully.

• Cognitive Skills are also known as Intellectual Skills are skills involve learning and understanding fundamental knowledge including basic sciences, nursing procedures, and their underlying rationale before caring for clients. Cognitive skills also include problem-solving, decision-making, critical thinking, clinical reasoning, and creativity.
• Interpersonal Skills are skills that involve believing, behaving, and relating to others. The effectiveness of a nursing action usually leans mainly on the nurse’s ability to communicate with the patient and the members of the health care team.
• Technical Skills are purposeful “hands-on” skills such as changing a sterile dressing, administering an injection, manipulating equipment, bandaging, moving, lifting, and repositioning clients. All of these activities require safe and competent performance.

Process of Implementing

The process of implementing typically includes the following:

Prior to implementing an intervention, the nurse must reassess the client to make sure the intervention is still needed. Even if an order is written on the care plan, the client’s condition may have changed.

Other nursing tasks or activities may also be performed by non-RN members of the healthcare team. Members of this team may include unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP) and caregivers , as well as other licensed healthcare workers, such as licensed practical nurses/licensed vocational nurses (LPNs/LVNs). The nurse may need assistance when implementing some nursing intervention, such as ambulating an unsteady obese client, repositioning a client, or when a nurse is not familiar with a particular model of traction equipment needs assistance the first time it is applied.

3. Implementing the nursing interventions

Nurses must not only have a substantial knowledge base of the sciences, nursing theory , nursing practice, and legal parameters of nursing interventions but also must have the psychomotor skills to implement procedures safely. It is necessary for nurses to describe, explain, and clarify to the client what interventions will be done, what sensations to anticipate, what the client is expected to do, and what the expected outcome is. When implementing care, nurses perform activities that may be independent, dependent, or interdependent.

Nursing interventions are grouped into three categories according to the role of the healthcare professional involved in the patient’s care:

A registered nurse can perform independent interventions on their own without the help or assistance from other medical personnel, such as: 

• routine nursing tasks such as checking vital signs
• educating a patient on the importance of their medication so they can administer it as prescribed

A nurse cannot initiate dependent interventions alone. Some actions require guidance or supervision from a physician or other medical professional, such as:

• prescribing new medication
• inserting and removing a urinary catheter
• providing diet
• Implementing wound or bladder irrigations

A nurse performs as part of collaborative or interdependent interventions that involve team members across disciplines.

• In some cases, such as post- surgery , the patient’s recovery plan may require prescription medication from a physician, feeding assistance from a nurse, and treatment by a physical therapist or occupational therapist.
• The physician may prescribe a specific diet to a patient. The nurse includes diet counseling in the patient care plan. To aid the patient, even more, the nurse enlists the help of the dietician that is available in the facility.

Delegate specific nursing interventions to other members of the nursing team as appropriate. Consider the capabilities and limitations of the members of the nursing team and supervise the performance of the nursing interventions. Deciding whether delegation is indicated is another activity that arises during the nursing process.

The American Nurses Association and the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (2006) define delegation as “the process for a nurse to direct another person to perform nursing tasks and activities.” It generally concerns the appointment of the performance of activities or tasks associated with patient care to unlicensed assistive personnel while retaining accountability for the outcome.

Nevertheless, registered nurses cannot delegate responsibilities related to making nursing judgments. Examples of nursing activities that cannot be delegated to unlicensed assistive personnel include assessment and evaluation of the impact of interventions on care provided to the patient.

Record what has been done as well as the patient’s responses to nursing interventions precisely and concisely.

5. Evaluation : “Did the plan work?”

Evaluating is the fifth step of the nursing process. This final phase of the nursing process is vital to a positive patient outcome. Once all nursing intervention actions have taken place, the team now learns what works and what doesn’t by evaluating what was done beforehand. Whenever a healthcare provider intervenes or implements care, they must reassess or evaluate to ensure the desired outcome has been met. The possible patient outcomes are generally explained under three terms: the patient’s condition improved, the patient’s condition stabilized, and the patient’s condition worsened.

Steps in Evaluation

Nursing evaluation includes (1) collecting data, (2) comparing collected data with desired outcomes, (3) analyzing client’s response relating to nursing activities, (4) identifying factors that contributed to the success or failure of the care plan, (5) continuing, modifying, or terminating the nursing care plan, and (6) planning for future nursing care.

The nurse recollects data so that conclusions can be drawn about whether goals have been fulfilled. It is usually vital to collect both objective and subjective data. Data must be documented concisely and accurately to facilitate the next part of the evaluating process.

The documented goals and objectives of the nursing care plan become the standards or criteria by which to measure the client’s progress whether the desired outcome has been met, partially met, or not met.

• The goal was met , when the client response is the same as the desired outcome.
• The goal was partially met , when either a short-term outcome was achieved but the long-term goal was not, or the desired goal was incompletely attained.
• The goal was not met.

It is also very important to determine whether the nursing activities had any relation to the outcomes whether it was successfully accomplished or not.

It is required to collect more data to confirm if the plan was successful or a failure. Different factors may contribute to the achievement of goals. For example, the client’s family may or may not be supportive, or the client may be uncooperative to perform such activities. 

The nursing process is dynamic and cyclical. If goals were not sufficed, the nursing process begins again from the first step. Reassessment and modification may continually be needed to keep them current and relevant depending upon general patient condition. The plan of care may be adjusted based on new assessment data. Problems may arise or change accordingly. As clients complete their goals, new goals are set. If goals remain unmet, nurses must evaluate the reasons these goals are not being achieved and recommend revisions to the nursing care plan.

Discharge planning is the process of transitioning a patient from one level of care to the next. Discharge plans are individualized instructions provided as the client is prepared for continued care outside the healthcare facility or for independent living at home. The main purpose of a discharge plan is to improve the client’s quality of life by ensuring continuity of care together with the client’s family or other healthcare workers providing continuing care.

The following are the key elements of IDEAL discharge planning according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality:

• I nclude the patient and family as full partners in the discharge planning process.
• Describe what life at home will be like
• Review medications
• Highlight warning signs and problems
• Explain test results
• Schedule follow-up appointments
• E ducate the patient and family in plain language about the patient’s condition, the discharge process, and next steps throughout the hospital stay.
• A ssess how well doctors and nurses explain the diagnosis, condition, and next steps in the patient’s care to the patient and family and use teach back.
• L isten to and honor the patient’s and family’s goals, preferences, observations, and concerns. 

A discharge plan includes specific components of client teaching with documentation such as:

• Equipment needed at home. Coordinate home-based care and special equipment needed.
• Dietary needs or special diet . Discuss what the patient can or cannot eat at home.
• Medications to be taken at home. List the patient’s medications and discuss the purpose of each medicine, how much to take, how to take it, and potential side effects.
• Resources such as contact numbers and addresses of important people. Write down the name and contact information of someone to call if there is a problem.
• Emergency response: Danger signs. Identify and educate patients and families about warning signs or potential problems.
• Home care activities. Educate patient on what activities to do or avoid at home.
• Summary. Discuss with the patient and family about the patient’s condition, the discharge process, and follow-up checkups.

38 thoughts on “The Nursing Process: A Comprehensive Guide”

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What is the Nursing Process?

Characteristics of the nursing process, history of the nursing process.

Understanding the nursing process is key to providing quality care to your patients. The nursing process is a cyclical process used to assess, diagnose, and care for patients as a nurse. It includes 5 progressive steps often referred to with the acronym:

• Planning/outcomes
• Implementation

In this article, we’ll discuss each step of the nursing process in detail and include some examples of how this process might look in your practice. 

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The nursing process is a patient-centered, systematic, evidence-based approach to delivering high-quality nursing care. It consists of five steps: assessment , diagnosis , outcomes/planning, implementation, and evaluation.

The Nursing Process (ADPIE)

1. Assessment

To begin the nursing process, assessment involves collecting information about the patient and their health. This information is used to identify any problems, or potential problems, that may need to be addressed while you’re caring for a patient. 

Example: If you’re admitting an older patient who is falling and getting injured at home, you’ll want to do a thorough physical and mental health assessment, including a medical history to try and determine why this is happening. 

Some important things you’ll want to find out are:

• What medications and over-the-counter products is the patient taking
• History of alcohol and recreational drug use
• Where the person lives and the layout of their home, including scatter rugs they may be tripping over: clutter, pets, stairs, slippery tubs they’re climbing into or out of, fluid or food spills on floors, lighting, mobility aids they use, etc.

2. Diagnosis

The Nursing Diagnosis is the second step in the nursing process and involves identifying real or potential health problems for a patient based on the information you gathered during the assessment. 

Example: Using the falls patient example above, you may identify from your assessment that the patient is falling because they’re tripping on things in their environment that they don’t see, like their pet cat lying on the floor and loose scatter rugs. 

Based on this, you might form a diagnosis such as “Falls related to poor vision, cluttered environment, unsteady gait, Lt. hip pain due to previous fall.”

3. Outcomes/Planning

Planning or Outcomes is the third step in the nursing process. This step involves developing a nursing care plan that includes goals and strategies to address the problems identified during the assessment and diagnosis steps. 

Example: Continuing with the example above, you will likely recommend that the patient keep their environment,

• Free of scatter rugs
• Check to ensure the cat is not underfoot before they mobilize
• Suggest the patient use a walker for support when mobilizing
• Recommending that the patient schedule an eye exam to get their vision checked if they have not had one in the last year or two would also be a good idea or if they’ve noticed any changes in their vision lately.

4. Implementation

As the fourth step of the nursing process, implementation involves putting the plan of care into action. 

Example In the above example, this would include: 

• Making sure the patient’s environment is free of clutter and tripping hazards while in the hospital or a skilled nursing facility.
• Teaching the patient to wear proper footwear before mobilizing.
• Assisting the patient with mobility as needed, including putting proper footwear on the patient if needed.
• Speaking to the patient and family about removing scatter rugs from the patient’s home, scheduling an eye exam, and ensuring proper footwear is worn for mobilizing at home.
• Discussing with the patient and family about getting the patient a walker to assist with mobility on discharge and providing one while the patient is admitted.

5. Evaluation

The last step of the nursing process is evaluation , which involves determining whether or not the goals of care have been met. 

Example Here you would look back at the patient’s medical record to see if the patient has had any further falls since implementing the preventative actions above. 

If so, you would repeat the nursing process over and reassess why this is still happening and plan new actions to prevent future falls.

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The nursing process is also characterized by the following elements. 

1. Dynamic and Cyclic

The nursing process is an evolving process that continues throughout a patient’s admission or illness and ends when the problems identified by the nurse are no longer an issue.

2. Patient-Centered and Goal-Directed

The entire nursing process is sensitive to and responsive to the patient's needs, preferences, and values. As nurses, we need to act as patient advocates and protect the patient’s right to make informed decisions while involving the patient in goal setting and attainment.

3. Collaborative and Interpersonal

This describes the level of interaction that may be required between nurses, patients, families and supports, and the interprofessional healthcare team. These aspects of the nursing process require mutual respect, cooperation, clear communication, and decision-making that is shared between all parties involved.

4. Universally Applicable

As a widely and globally accepted standard in nursing practice, the nursing process follows the same steps, regardless of where a nurse works. 

5. Systematic and Scientific

The nursing process is also an objective and predictable process for planning, conducting, and evaluating patient care that is based on a large body of scientific evidence found in peer-reviewed nursing research.

6. Requires Critical Thinking

Most importantly, it’s essential that nurses use critical thinking when planning patient care using the nursing process. This means as nurses, we must use a combination of our knowledge and past experiences with the information we have about a current patient to make the best decisions we can about nursing care.

The nursing process was introduced in 1958 by Ida Jean Orlando. Today, it continues to be the most widely-accepted method of prioritizing, organizing, and providing patient care in the nursing profession.

It’s characterized by the key elements of:

• Critical thinking
• Client-centered methods for treatment
• Goal-oriented activities
• Evidence-based nursing research and findings
• The nursing process helps nurses to provide quality patient care by taking a holistic view of each patient they plan care for.
• The nursing process is an evidence-based approach to caring for patients that helps nurses provide quality care and improve patient outcomes.
• Ida Jean Orlando introduced the nursing process in 1958.
• The primary focus of the nursing process is the patient or client. The process is designed to meet the real and potential healthcare needs of the patient/client and to prevent possible illness or injury.

Leona Werezak BSN, MN, RN is the Director of Business Development at NCLEX Education. She began her nursing career in a small rural hospital in northern Canada where she worked as a new staff nurse doing everything from helping deliver babies to medevacing critically ill patients. Learning much from her patients and colleagues at the bedside for 15 years, she also taught in baccalaureate nursing programs for almost 20 years as a nursing adjunct faculty member (yes! Some of those years she did both!). As a freelance writer online, she writes content for nursing schools and colleges, healthcare and medical businesses, as well as various nursing sites.

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How to write a Nursing process Essay

Do you have a nursing process essay to write about but do not know where to start? Worry not. We understand that a nursing process essay might be challenging to write as it requires thorough research and technical knowledge, and the message must be well conveyed to the audience. This article provides a complete guide on how to write a nursing process essay.

Writing a nursing assessment process essay involves several basic steps. Each step is significant to the process. Before looking at the process, it is crucial to know what a nursing process essay is and other tips for writing a good nursing process essay.

What is a nursing process essay?

A nursing process essay is a piece of writing that explains the process of treating a patient from interviewing, diagnosis, treatment, and the healing process. A nursing process gives patient care focusing on the potential or actual alterations to health. It also involves planning and establishing what the patient needs and helping to deliver them by planning and implementing.

Importance of a nursing process

Nursing students need to learn about the nursing process. They should write an essay on the nursing process to understand the process. Your instructor can ask you to write a four or five-page essay on the nursing process.

• To determine the client’s overall health and any current or anticipated healthcare issues or needs (through assessment).
• To make preparations to address the needs that have been recognized.
• To provide particular nursing interventions to achieve those requirements
• To use the most up-to-date evidence in caring and to benefit human functions and reactions to health and illness
• When the nursing process’ criteria are followed appropriately, nurses are protected from legal concerns relating to nursing care
• To assist the nurse in performing their duties in an organized and coordinated manner
• To create a database containing information about the patient’s health state, medical issues, sickness response, and ability to manage healthcare needs

What is the value of a nursing process essay?

Many students ask themselves, what is the value of the nursing process in relation to the nursing profession essay? The answer is simple. The nursing process involves steps that must be included in the nursing profession essay. The nursing process is essential to ensure quality care and the preferred outcome.

Nursing process essay outline

• Introduction

As a healthcare provider, the nurse must address the patient’s overall needs, which must be done with care and caution because there is life at stake. Nursing is more concerned with a person’s psychological, spiritual, social, and physical well-being than their medical condition.

Solving challenges requires more than critical thinking. Critical thinking must be linked with scientific approaches to recognize patient problems and deliver appropriate care. The nursing process is the organization of review and performance.

• The nursing processes

The plan of a nursing process is a crucial tool for patients who are being admitted to the hospital. It is a systematic, client-centered approach that allows the nurse to detect client-care issues. The efficient application of the nursing process assists the nurse in determining not only current but also potential future difficulties.

Being able to anticipate difficulties may help the client avoid complications and pains. Evaluation, diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation are the five interconnected steps of the process of nursing. Each of the five steps depends on the effectiveness of the ones before it.

Each phase of the nursing process requires collaboration between the nurse and the patient. Because health circumstances vary over time, the nursing practice is also a continual activity. The nurse must evaluate, implement, introduce new interventions, and revise the process regularly.

The nursing process has no set duration; it might last for days, months, or years, depending on the patient’s present state. Every step of the nursing process relies on accurate and comprehensive information about the patient.

The steps in the nursing processes essay

The nursing process starts when a patient and a nurse create a bond. This nurse-client interaction will assist and dictate a portion of the outcome. The method of assessment begins with gathering information about the patient. Data can be collected from several different sources. The client is the primary source of information on personal health and sickness views and feelings.

Data collection methods

• Interview about health

This is the most common method to gather important information about the patient. An interview is an intentional communication to obtain information about something. This section may include asking a patient about their medical history. It is at this stage that you develop a rapport with the patient.

• Physical examination

Apart from interviews, a nurse can conduct a physical examination. This may include obtaining the patient’s health history, the family’s history and observing them generally. A successful physical observation provides an accurate diagnosis, evaluation, planning, and better interventions.

• Observation

This assessment tool uses the five senses (hearing, sight, touch, taste, and smell) to get information about a patient. This information is related to the appearance of the patient’s functioning, appearance, environment, and primary relationships.

Many characteristics can be observed through sight, but you can use hearing, detecting any smell, listening to lung sounds, and feeling the pulse rate. This happens mostly in the aspire nursing process essay .

Data validation

Data validation includes verifying data to ensure it is factual and accurate. This can be done by double-checking. It allows a nurse to do the following activities:

• Double-check, complete, and verify information
• Ensure that related subjective and objective data is accurate and valid
• Ensure that the source of information has adequate support
• Clarify any vague statements and ambiguous information
• Acquire extra details that may have been forgotten
• Differentiate between inferences and cues

Data documentation

After collecting all the information, you should sort and record data. Good record-keeping is essential for accessibility to the entire healthcare team and cases of future reference. If you are writing a nursing essay on a nursing process slide share, be careful not to make some mistakes.

The diagnosis begins once the nurse has gathered and sorted the patient’s data. The North American Nursing Diagnosis Association (NANDA) maintains the official list of nursing diagnoses and treatments, which defines nursing diagnosis as “a clinical judgment focusing on applying medical skills that determine potential or actual experiences and responses to health problems and life processes.”

The nurse can determine real and future health concerns through nursing diagnosis. Existing needs will always take precedence over possible difficulties, not because they are unimportant, but because current needs must be addressed first to avert potential issues. The nurse evaluates data from the nursing assessment during the diagnostic stage.

These data assist the nurse in determining the patient’s capabilities and health issues. Data is processed, categorized, interpreted, and authenticated during this step. The nurse can manage the vast amount of data by classifying it. Organizing data into categories also aids the nurse in identifying data gaps that need to be addressed. The nurse uses interpreting to identify trends and patterns in the patients.

Validation allows the nurse to ensure that the data is accurate. Nursing diagnostic statements that are inappropriate for the patient might emerge from errors in the clinical diagnosis, such as faulty data interpretation, inadequate data, and a lack of knowledge or experience. The nurse can submit the findings to other health care professionals and collaborate with them to address the patient’s problem with the help of diagnosis. You should be aware of the distinction between nursing and medical assessment. Health assessment focuses more on curing than nursing diagnosis, identifying responses to health and illness.

When nurses obtain patient data and determine the strengths and health issues, they can plan for action. The nurse might consult with a specialist to determine the best form of a care plan for a specific patient. During planning, the nurse must collaborate with the patient and family to prioritize nursing diagnoses.

Educating the patient and answering questions about their doubts is beneficial at this phase since it provides a clear picture of what the patient requires to achieve their goals. Prioritizing includes determining the patient’s goals and expected outcomes, identifying nursing actions that may assist the patient in achieving their objectives, and communicating the care plan.

Planning is done incorrectly if an outcome is nurse-focused rather than patient-centered. The treatment plan would be pointless if the patient were not committed to accomplishing specified goals and outcomes. The patient’s participation as an active participant in the treatment plan will aid in fulfilling the goals.

Validation may be compromised if the patient refuses to participate in the treatment plan. The patient, family, and caregiver must collaborate to make the goals valuable and lead to a worthwhile care plan. The initial evaluation occurs as soon as the patient is admitted, and it may vary numerous times depending on the patient’s new diagnosis and goals. The assessment done by nurses who work with the client throughout the admission is known as ongoing planning. Once a patient is discharged from the hospital, the care plan is known as discharge planning.

Types of planning

• Initial planning
• Ongoing planning
• Discharge planning
• Implementation

After the nursing care plan has been prepared, the implementation phase begins. The effectiveness of the method of care is tested in this setting. The implementation goal is to help the patient achieve their desired health goals, including preventing disease and sickness, restoring health, and coping with changed functioning.

The nurse must assess the patient regularly to determine whether the interventions work. Working in conjunction with the patient and family is crucial when providing nursing care. Before taking any nursing activity, the nurse should reassess the patient to ensure that it is still necessary.

It is common for nursing actions to change due to health changes that may improve or deteriorate. After all, it is critical to confront the patient about their health state compassionately; the patient has the right to know what they are going through. This period is crucial for the patient and the nurse regarding documentation.

The nurse can assess and investigate the patient’s condition through documentation. In contrast, the patient can determine their progress and identify areas for improvement to meet goals. After completing the paperwork, the nurse should check with colleagues to determine if other techniques would be more effective.

Skills used in the implementation stage

• Cognitive skills

These skills are also known as intellectual. The skills involve understanding and learning the basic nursing procedures and fundamental knowledge before caring for patients.

Cognitive ability also involves decision-making, clinical reasoning, creativity, and problem-solving skills.

• Interpersonal skills

These skills involve behaving, believing, and relating to other people correctly. The effectiveness of a nursing process mainly depends on the nurse’s ability to communicate with the fellow health care team and the patients.

• Technical skills

These include purposeful hand skills like administering injections, bandaging, lifting, moving, and repositioning clients. These activities need competence and safe performance.

The continuing evaluation process begins after all, care transition acts are completed. The nurse determines if the goals/outcomes mentioned in the care plan have been met, partially met, or not met through evaluation in conjunction with the patient. This procedure, in which new modifications might be added, determines the effectiveness of care.

The nurse can determine whether to discontinue the plan or continue the plan of care if more time is needed to achieve goals based on the patient’s response to the care plans and achievements. The objective of the evaluation is to determine the overall progress of the patient and the quality of nursing care in assisting patients in achieving their intended outcomes/goals.

The patient’s health condition can be compared to the monitoring tools in the nursing plan of care, which can be done at the end of the nursing process. If the patient has made little or no progress toward the goals/outcomes outlined in the care plan, the nurse must revisit each prior stage.

If the patient achieves the goal, the care plan can be amended again without including further goals in the nursing plan. The nurse’s proper communication with the patient and solid detective skills throughout the procedure can lead to an effective assessment. Evaluation can provide feedback; this feedback is used to determine whether the nurse is a competent caregiver or what can be done differently next time to make her a better caregiver.

When the nursing process is implemented correctly, it benefits both the patient and the nurse. From a nurse’s perspective, the clinical practice allows you to decide whether your nursing care benefits the client. The nursing process also aids the nurse in avoiding mistakes and inadequacies in the care plan.

The nurse can improve communication with other healthcare professionals and patients by employing the care plan. Conversely, the client is an active participant who understands involvement in their health state. As a result, the patient gains a sense of ownership.

When the nursing procedure is carried out correctly, it is effective and yields satisfactory results. This is why nurses are encouraged to utilize this procedure as frequently as feasible. It can be challenging to implement the nursing procedure for each patient effectively. Wards are often overly chaotic due to opposing patients or a lack of personnel, making it difficult for a nurse to focus on each patient individually.

Nurses are human, and as such, they are not flawless, despite their best efforts to meet the requirements of their patients. Even after all their hard work, nurses are rewarded with a fantastic sense of accomplishment when they witness how they contributed to making a positive difference in the lives of others.

Importance of writing a nursing process essay

• It helps in improving patient care and ensuring you get the expected results.
• It helps improve students’ critical thinking skills by recognizing a problem and finding a solution.
• The process helps in improving the condition of the patient
• It helps in identifying the health status of patients
• It allows nurses to be responsible and efficient

Characteristics of the process of nursing

• Patient-centered

The nursing process approach needs respectful care and response to the patient’s preferences, values, and needs. The nurse should keep the patient’s rights when making decisions concerning treatment.

• Interpersonal

The therapeutic process is founded on nursing, in which the nurse and patient respect each other, learning and growing as a result of interactions. It entails a collaborative effort between the nurse and the patient to achieve a common aim.

• Collaborative

The process must function effectively in interprofessional teams and nursing. It must also promote mutual respect, shared decision-making, and open communication to provide the best quality care to the patient.

• Cyclical and dynamic

The process is dynamic and cyclical as each phase interacts with the other and is influenced by the different stages.

• Must require critical thinking

The nurse involved in the nursing process must apply critical thinking skills to identify the issue and promote intervention for desirable outcomes.

Nursing process essay examples

We have covered almost all the basics of a nursing process essay. You can talk to us or visit our website if you need to read more nursing clinical essay examples. It is important to read many examples to understand the concept better.

If you want a free essay on the nursing process to read, you can also get it online. We provide a free five-page essay on the nursing process, among other pieces, to help students understand the nursing process.

Writing a nursing process essay is not as simple as it may sound. It involves understanding all the processes involved in the nursing process, which many students lack the idea of writing. This article provides a complete guide on how to write a nursing process essay.

A process essay has seven sections: introduction, evaluation, diagnosis, planning, implementation, evaluation, and conclusion. Each stage has essential activities that take place.

If you still need help writing a nursing process essay, worry not. We provide essay writing services to all level students at a reasonable rate. Contact us for more information.

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How to write a successful nursing process essay.

In this blog, you will learn about what is a nursing process and why it is important to have a nursing process. Additionally, you will learn how to  write a top-notch nursing process essay. Read the full blog to find out how.

What is the nursing process?

The Nursing Process is a scientific method used by nurses to ensure quality patient care. This process consists of five steps: assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation. By following these steps, nurses can provide the best possible care to their patients.

Assessment is the first step of the nursing process. During this phase, nurses collect data about their patients through observation, interviews, and physical examinations. This information is used to identify the patient’s problems and needs.

Diagnosis is the second step of the nursing process. During this phase, nurses use the data from the assessment phase to develop a plan of care. This plan is aimed at solving the patient’s problems and meeting their needs.

Planning is the third step of the nursing process. During this phase, nurses develop a detailed plan of care that includes the goals and objectives for the patient. This plan is then used to guide the implementation of care.

Implementation is the fourth step of the nursing process. During this phase, nurses carry out the plan of care. This includes providing treatments and therapies, as well as teaching patients and their families about their condition.

Evaluation is the fifth and final step of the nursing process. During this phase, nurses assess the patient’s progress and determine whether the goals of care have been met. This information is then used to revise the plan of care, as needed. Nursing process essay.

The Importance of the Nursing Process

The nursing process is an essential tool for nurses to provide high-quality, individualized care. It is a flexible framework that can be adapted to meet the needs of any patient. By using the nursing process, nurses can ensure that they are providing the best possible care to their patients.

The nursing process is a systematic approach to providing high-quality nursing care. It is a framework that nurses can use to ensure that they are providing the best possible care to their patients. The nursing process includes four main steps: assessment, diagnosis, planning, and implementation.

Assessment is the first step of the nursing process. During the assessment phase, nurses gather information about their patients’ health status. This information is used to identify patients’ needs and to develop a plan of care. Nursing process essay.

Diagnosis is the second step of the nursing process. During the diagnosis phase, nurses use the information gathered during the assessment phase to develop a plan of care. The plan of care is individualized to each patient and is based on the patient’s diagnosis.

Planning is the third step of the nursing process. During the planning phase, nurses develop a plan of care that is individualized to each patient. The plan of care is based on the patient’s diagnosis and is designed to meet the patient’s specific needs.

Implementation is the fourth and final step of the nursing process. During the implementation phase, nurses carry out the plan of care. This phase includes providing nursing care to patients and monitoring their progress. Nursing process essay

The Five Steps of the Nursing Process

The nursing process: assessment, the nursing process: diagnosis, the nursing process: planning, the nursing process: implementation, the nursing process: evaluation.

The nursing process is a systematic approach to delivering high-quality nursing care. It begins with assessment, which is the gathering of information about the patient’s health status. This information is used to develop a plan of care, which is then implemented and evaluated. The nursing process is an important tool for nurses to use to ensure that they are providing the best possible care to their patients.

The Nursing Process is a scientific method used by nurses to ensure quality patient care. The first step of the Nursing Process is diagnosis. In order to make an accurate diagnosis, nurses must first assess the patient’s symptoms and medical history. Nursing process essay

Once the assessment is complete, the nurse will develop a plan of care based on the diagnosis. The plan of care will include the treatments and interventions necessary to help the patient recover.

The planning phase of the nursing process is the most important and time-consuming phase. During this phase, the nurse develops a plan of care based on the assessment data and the patient’s goals. The plan of care is a detailed, individualized plan that outlines the nursing interventions that will be used to achieve the patient’s goals.

The implementation phase is when the nurse carries out the plan of care. This includes carrying out nursing interventions and monitoring the patient’s response to them. The nursing process is an important tool for ensuring that patients receive the best possible care. Nursing process essay

After completing the assessment and diagnosis phases of the nursing process, nurses move on to the evaluation stage. This is when nurses determine whether or not the patient’s condition has improved after implementing the nursing care plan. To do this, nurses must collect data from the patient and compare it to the data collected during the assessment phase. This data can be collected through patient interviews, physical exams, and laboratory tests.

Once the data is collected, nurses can determine if the patient’s condition has improved, worsened, or stayed the same. If the patient’s condition has improved, nurses can continue with the care plan. If the patient’s condition has worsened, nurses may need to modify the care plan. If the patient’s condition has stayed the same, nurses may need to re-evaluate the care plan.

Final Remarks.

To write a successful nursing process essay, students must first understand the nursing process. Once they have a good understanding of the nursing process, they can then begin to brainstorm ideas for their essay. Nursing process essay

When brainstorming ideas, students should keep in mind the purpose of the essay. The purpose of the nursing process essay is to describe how the nursing process can be used to provide quality patient care. Nursing process essay

Once students have brainstormed ideas, they can then begin to write their essay. When writing their essay, students should keep the following tips in mind:

• Be sure to include an introduction and a conclusion.
• Be sure to describe each step of the nursing process in detail.
• Be sure to provide examples of how the nursing process can be used to provide quality patient care.
• Be sure to proofread and edit their essay before submitting it.

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The 5 Nursing Process Steps – (Learn Each Step in Detail)

One of the most important tools a nurse can use in practice is the nursing process. Although nursing schools teach first-year students about the nursing process, some nurses fail to grasp the impact its proper use can have on patient care. In this article, I will share information about the nursing process, its history, its purpose, its main characteristics, and the 5 steps involved in carrying out the nursing process. After reading this article, you will be able to answer the question, “what is the nursing process” and understand what is involved in each of the 5 steps of the nursing process. Additionally, throughout this article, after discussing a step of the nursing process, I will share an example of how the nurse would proceed with that step. For this article’s purposes, we will use information about the following patient: Mr. Collie, a fifty-four-year-old white male being admitted to the Medical-Surgical floor for acute congestive heart failure.

What Is The Nursing Process In Simple Words?

When was the nursing process developed, who developed the nursing process, what is the purpose of the nursing process, what are the 7 main characteristics of the nursing process, 1. within the legal scope of practice, 2. based on sound knowledge, 4. client-centered, 5. goal-directed, 6. prioritized, 7. dynamic and cyclical, how many steps are there in the nursing process, what are the 5 steps of the nursing process, step #1: assessment phase, step #2: diagnosis phase, step #3: planning phase, step #4: implementation phase, step #5: evaluation phase, useful resources to gain more information about the nursing process, blogs/websites, youtube videos, my final thoughts, frequently asked questions answered by our expert, 1. how is nursing process different from the scientific method, 2. do all nurses use the nursing process, 3. do doctors also use the nursing process, 4. what does adpie stand for, 5. is it always necessary for a nurse to follow all steps of the nursing process, 6. how does critical thinking impact the nursing process, 7. how does a health information system affect the nursing process, 8. how to use maslow hierarchy in the nursing process, 9. which nursing process step includes tasks that can be delegated, 10. which nursing process step includes tasks that cannot be delegated, 11. how does the nursing process apply to pharmacology.

How to Write a Nursing Essay for a Nursing Class | Student's Guide

A nursing essay is a focused piece of writing that develops nursing-related ideas using evidence, analysis, and interpretation.

In most cases, the content and length of the nursing essay will depend on the level of study, course requirements, instructor preference, and the type of nursing specialization you are taking. Nevertheless, you will primarily write nursing essays, including persuasive, definition, descriptive, argumentative, reflective, and narrative essays.

The process of writing an essay on a nursing topic is the same as the typical essay writing process; it entails three stages ( pre-writing, writing, and post-writing phases ), each with its steps. Although nursing is a noble career, everyone confuses the process of being easy. Nevertheless, completing nursing essays for a nursing class can be challenging, especially if you don't have a structured approach. Not to worry, though!

In this writing guide, we walk you through the steps to take, the structure to adopt, the top tips to use, and some topics to consider when writing an academic nursing essay.

Types of Nursing Essays Nursing Students Write

If you are wondering what types of essays, you are likely to be assigned when in nursing college or when pursuing a nursing degree from a university, let's introduce you to some of them. Academic writing is an essential skill for nurses that they require attaining proficiency in their careers. And because it is a crucial part of the profession, you will be assigned to write different essays. Here are different writings that you will do in nursing school:

• Nursing School Essays. These are the essays or personal statements written before joining nursing school. It is written to show your zeal, passion, and determination to be a nurse. It includes "why nursing" essays, "why I want to become a nurse" essays, or "the noble nursing profession." These are written as part of the application process.
• Reflective Essays. Nursing reflective essays entail expressing your feelings, thoughts, and experiences about an event, such as a practicum, hospital experience, shadowing experience, research project, or study experience. You can use reflective frameworks such as the Johari window, Gibbs reflective model, Kolb's reflective model, Era Cycle, or Driscoll's what model. Your personal nursing philosophy paper is also written in a reflective tone.
• Nursing Scholarship Essays. These are essays written to explain to a scholarship-selection committee why you deserve a scholarship to study nursing or to advance your degree.
• Nursing case study analysis essays
• Descriptive essays. These essays describe a process, topic, or phenomenon of interest in nursing practice.
• Comparative Essays. These essays compare and contrast two things, places, processes, and objects. You can be asked to evaluate middle-range theories and compare disease intervention processes, articles, texts, or events.
• Persuasive Essays. These essays entail convincing the readers to adopt a certain viewpoint or take a specific action. For example, you can be asked to write a marijuana legalization essay or an essay on why nurses should be involved in disaster management.
• Expository Essays. Expository essays are five-paragraph essays that explain something or educate/inform the reader. For example, you could be asked to write an essay on the advantages of adopting electronic health systems, why nurses should advance their studies, how to address the nursing shortage, or the legislation and legal requirements to become a nurse.
• Narrative Essays. These are essays that tell a story from the perspective of an individual. For instance, you can narrate how you came to love nursing, your nursing philosophy, or your leadership philosophy.

Nursing Essay Writing Process

A typical nursing essay writing process takes three stages: prewriting, writing, and post-writing. Of course, this also applies when writing a nursing research paper or a case study, for that matter.

Note that the time, effort, and dedication required may differ depending on the essay's type, length, and scope.

For example, if you are assigned to write a 3–4-page essay analyzing a healthcare policy, most of your time will be consumed by research, planning, and writing. And if you are to write an essay on why you love nursing, you will most likely spend less time researching because you are writing it from your perspective. In a nutshell, the three stages entail:

Prewriting stage

• Unpacking the question
• Defining and refining the essay topic
• Creating a title
• Researching and gathering sources
• Developing a thesis statement
• Creating an outline

Writing Stage

• Crafting the introduction, body, and conclusion
• Fixing the in-text citations

Post writing stage

• Editing, revising, proofreading, formatting, and polishing the essay.
• Checking for plagiarism
• Submitting the essay on time

Pre-Writing Phase for writing a nursing essay

Before you start writing a nursing essay, you have to ensure that you are clear about what is required of you

Unpack or Dissect the Question

The first step in the process of writing a nursing assignment is to know the question. You can do this by reading the prompt in the portal (Blackboard or Canvas), email from the lecturer, or PowerPoint slide presentations from class.

Understanding the question helps you structure your approach, limit the scope of your research, and write a nursing paper addressing the prompt. You should look for pointers, signal words, or terms such as evaluate, elaborate, explore, discuss, examine, illustrate, compare and contrast, cause and effect, make a case, etc.

When you get it right from the onset, you can achieve the goal of your nursing essay, which is to demonstrate that you have a better grasp of theoretical concepts and research processes and can write a professionally written paper.

Select a suitable topic

In most cases, you will be given a topic to write about because nursing essays focus on the same issues, unlike other subjects.

 The field is leveled in nursing classes. Nevertheless, due to the differences in communities, states, and nationalities that nursing students come from, you might be allowed to select a topic on your own.

After selecting a suitable topic that is neither too broad nor too narrow, submit it for approval by your professor or nurse educator. Ideally, choose a topic that aligns with the course concepts, theories, and readings. For instance, if discussing healthcare determinants in a specific community, focus on a website such as HealthyPeople to get the facts right.

Use the determinants mentioned in class when benchmarking nursing practice and community experiences.

The same applies to other areas such as anatomy, pathophysiology, epidemiology, care planning, assessment, leadership, education, practice, state laws, advocacy, policy analysis, etc.

When choosing the topic, go for the one you are interested in. Probably select a topic that aligns with your future ambitions/specialization.

Related Article: Nursing Research Topics for Essays and Nursing Papers.

Focus your Research and Select Sources

Once you have a topic, you must research widely from credible nursing sources.

Develop an understanding of the topic, understand what nursing scholars are saying about the topic, and select potential nursing references for your paper.

You can use scholarly nursing databases such as PubMed, Medline, Embase, BMC, the Cochrane Library, or the JBI EBP database.

Limit your search to articles and journals published within the last five years unless you have to reference a seminal work that has not been updated through the years.

Develop your thesis

A common question students ask is whether nursing essays have thesis statements. The response is that, like any other essay, you should include a thesis that announces your central aim or idea.

Your thesis statement should be assertive, specific, arguable, precise, and demonstrative. It should round up the gist of your entire paper.  The topic, supporting, and concluding sentences depends on the thesis statement.

Outline your essay

After creating a reasonable and focused thesis statement, map out a rough structure of your essay. Mapping out your essay helps you understand what falls where and stay focused when writing.

The essay outline should have your title, hook statement, thesis statement, and topic sentences. You will be filling this outline in the next step when writing the paper.

Writing stage for the Nursing Essay

In the writing phase, you must focus on filling your outline with content. Follow the following steps.

Write the introduction first

By now, you have identified the direction you want your essay to take, depending on the structured approach you have selected to answer the prompt/question. The introduction of your essay sets the tone, direction, and scope of your essay. since it is the invitation for your readers and the first contact point, it should grab their attention and then inform them what is to come. The introduction should be 15-20% of the word count. It should entail:

• Hook – this is the first sentence in your nursing essay, and it should raise the curiosity of your readers and pique their interests. You can use a statistical, epidemiological, or surprising fact related to the topic. In most cases, when writing essays on disease, epidemiology, and disease processes, shocking statistical/epidemiological facts can do the work. For instance, if you are writing an essay on mental health or illness, state the portion of the affected national, international, regional, or state population.
• Background of the topic – the background is where you give the context that helps your readers understand your arguments. Provide an overview of the topic, the importance of the nursing topic, and if possible, explain the complicated terms.
• Thesis statement – state your thesis statement as stated in the outline. In addition, the thesis should signal your position on the topic.
• Signposting – this is where you map out the content of your essay by stating the content in each section. It is specifically applicable to longer essays.

Develop the body paragraphs

After writing the introduction, you need to write the body paragraphs of your nursing essay. The body is approximately 75-80% of your essay's word count.

It is where you make arguments, give examples, and provide evidence to support the thesis. You should present, analyze, interpret, and organize the sources when supporting your claims and arguments.

In terms of writing the paragraphs, ensure that each body paragraph has an outstanding topic sentence, supporting sentences, and concluding sentences.

 The first sentence is the topic sentence, which announces what the paragraph is about.

The supporting sentences are where you present the facts, information, and examples from scholarly sources. Make sure to cite the information to avoid plagiarism.

Also, have transition words to help you write an essay with a good flow of ideas.

In nursing, you can use AMA, APA, ASA, or Harvard formatting; ensure you stick to the respective rules.

Write the conclusion

 The conclusion is the final paragraph of your nursing essay. You should write it to include 10-15% of the word count of your essay. A strong nursing essay conclusion restates the thesis, ties together the main arguments, has a call to action, or provides a sense of closure to the readers.

It should have an impactful or memorable sentence that lets the reader develop a strong connection and have a positive impression.

Your conclusion should not have any new facts, concepts, or examples. Instead, it should summarize your essay.

If you have a nursing essay that has a concept map, you can hire a concept map writer from our website and fulfil your assignment on time. 

Tips to help you write better Nursing Essays

As we began by saying, writing nursing essays follows the same steps as the essays you have written before. Apart from mastering the citations and structure and following the above steps to write a powerful essay, you can use these tips to ensure that your paper meets the requirements for the top grades in the rubric.

• Make clarifications early enough . When assigned to write a nursing essay, start by reading the instructions and unpacking what is required of you. Then, if you have any questions, contact your nurse educator or professor early enough.
• Allocate adequate time to complete the paper. To write a top-grade nursing essay, you must allocate enough time to research, draft, edit, and polish your essay. Therefore, completing and submitting the essay before the deadline is advisable.
• Research widely . If you are going to write a winning essay, you need to support your ideas with facts and pieces of evidence. Extract this evidence and supporting facts from nursing databases. Use journals, nurse organization websites, and government websites to support your arguments.
• Write first and edit later . When writing the paper, focus on writing first so that all your attention is focused on writing a paper with a good flow of ideas. Then, you can save everything else for later when proofreading and editing to turn the paper into a final draft.
• Incorporate concepts and theories from class . Nursing studies entail the learning and applying of nursing concepts, theories, and practical experiences. Therefore, focus your paper on these theories based on class readings, discussion posts and responses, and experiences during practice.
• Organize your paper well . As you write the essay, think creatively. Remember to present your facts logically and support your arguments using relevant in-text citations.
• Check for plagiarism . Before submitting your paper, check if it has plagiarism. You can do so using free plagiarism checkers such as Plagscan or Grammarly.
• Format your paper well . Ensure that you format and structure your paper according to the formatting and citation styles highlighted in your essay prompt. If you are unsure, refer to the citation machines or websites.
• Hire someone to write . If you cannot write the essay, hire a good nursing essay writer to write a model nursing essay that can demonstrate how to approach your topic. Then, you can edit, use it as a guide, and write an essay that addresses the prompt.

Related: Writing a nursing diagnosis statement.

Writing a nursing essay helps you develop critical thinking, creativity, and decision-making skills. For instance, writing an essay that applies the clinical reasoning cycle or SBAR communication model will help you know how to apply such models in practice. Therefore, ensure that your nursing essay meets your nursing class's content, structural, theoretical constructs, quality improvement models, and facts.

Related Articles:

• How to write a nurse student resume with no experience.
• Nursing theories to consider for your essay.
• Reasons to join the WGU RN to BSN Program.
• Writing a perfect nursing diagnosis.
• Steps for writing a perfect nursing care plan.

When in nursing school, essay writing is a critical aspect. You can hire a nursing essay writer from our website if you are strapped for time to complete your essays. Our experts can craft high-quality essays on any nursing essay topic of your choice. All papers are written in the appropriate format: APA, Harvard, AMA, or ASA. Check out our entire nursing class help package and make a deal today!

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The Opinions of Nursing Students Regarding the Nursing Process and Their Levels of Proficiency in Turkey

Feride taskın yilmaz.

1 Department of Internal Diseases Nursing, School of Susehri Health High, Sivas, Turkey

Selma Sabanciogullari

2 Department of Psychiatric Nursing, School of Susehri Health High, Sivas, Turkey

Kadriye Aldemir

3 Department of Internal Diseases Nursing, Lecturer Cumhuriyet University, School of Susehri Health High, Sivas, Turkey

Introduction: Nursing process, as a scientific method of nursing practice, is an important tool for putting nursing knowledge into practice which increases the quality of nursing care. The study was aimed to determine the opinions of nursing students regarding the nursing process and their levels of proficiency.

Methods: A total of 44 nursing students participated in this descriptive study. Data were collected by a three-part questionnaire including the opinion of students on nursing process, Gordon’s functional health patterns model and the NANDA diagnoses. Data were analyzed by SPSS software.

Results: Most of the students (65.9%) believed that the nursing process was necessary. half of the students explained the diagnosis, 58.3% explained the planning, 41.3% explained the implementation, and 43.6% explained the evaluation sufficiently.

Conclusion: It is suggested for instructors to use different teaching methods in order to develop critical thinking while teaching the nursing process.

Introduction

The advancements in technology lead to the emergence of new diseases and changes in health care needs. The demand for high quality nursing care increases with each passing day. 1 , 2 The quality of nursing care services increase patient satisfaction and the quality of health in general. 3 Therefore, nurses have to provide effective care for their patients by using up-to-date knowledge.

High quality nursing care is based on the systematic scientific methods and theoretical knowledge. 4 The nursing process, which is the most important tool for putting nursing knowledge into practice, is a systematic problem solving method for determining the health care needs of an healthy or ill individual and for providing personalized care. 5 - 7 It is recommended to use the nursing process as a scientific method in guiding the quality of nursing care and nursing practices. 8 The nursing process has many benefits for the individual who is receiving care, the nurse, and the nursing student. The nursing process provides that individual-centered care is given in accordance to a plan and that time is used in a more effective way while promoting communication between team members and increasing the quality of nursing care by providing written resources and evidence for nursing education and research. 6 , 7 , 9 , 10 In addition, it promotes critical thinking, creativity, problem solving, and decision making skills in clinical practice. 8 , 11 , 12 Providing care via the use of nursing process increases the quality of care and in turn, increases the level of satisfaction in individuals who receive care. 13

The nursing process, as a dynamic approach, consists of five stages that are related to each other. These stages include assessment, nursing diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation. 8 In the assessment stage, which provides a basis for all stages of the nursing process, data collection should be done in an accurate, objective, and complete way. 14 Therefore, it is important to have an appropriate model for data collection. Various models were developed by theoreticians in the national and international arena in order to collect data from healthy or ill individuals or their families in a systematic and comprehensive way. One of these models is the Functional Health Patterns (FHP) model. The FHP model, which is a nursing care model that evaluates individuals in a holistic way, was developed by the nursing theoretician Marjory Gordon in 1982. 14 This model examines the needs of an individual under 11 functional areas that are related to each other and facilitates collecting and analyzing data in an accurate, objective, and complete way. The FHP model determines an individual’s or family’s pervious coping skills and positive health practices as well as their complaints, limitations, and problems. 15

The second stage of the nursing process is making the correct nursing diagnosis, which depends on accurate data collection and guides the planning, implementation, and evaluation stages. 14 , 16 The nursing diagnosis is defined as a clinical decision that involves an individual’s, family’s, or society’s reactions to the present or potential health problems. 17 - 19 The nursing diagnosis is based on the synthesis of all data that was collected for guiding the nursing care process. 20 The nursing diagnosis consists of three parts that include an individual’s problem, etiological factors, and descriptive characteristics. 18 In order to increase the quality of nursing care and to provide that the needs of an individual is identified in the same way by all nurses, a standard terminology should be used in nursing diagnoses. Nowadays, the most common international nursing diagnosis terminology is developed by NANDA (North American Nursing Diagnosis Association). 21 , 22 In the literature, it has been reported that the NANDA nursing diagnoses are useful and valid, 23 that the NANDA is important for providing a common language in nursing, and that it would increase the quality of nursing records, nursing interventions, and patient outcomes. 24 Nevertheless, it has been underlined that the use of nursing diagnoses and documentation is insufficient in systematic research and health care. 25

In health care services, high quality patient care depends on the comprehensive care plan developed by nurses. 5 In Turkey, use of the nursing process recently became more prevalent due to legal regulations and the increase in quality research. 19 These circumstances increase the importance of school education which provides the opportunity for teaching the nursing process and for using care plans. In order to increase the use of the nursing process, the nursing process should be taught in an effective way during school education. 26 In this context, the nursing process is included in the curriculum of schools that provide Bachelor’s degree nursing education.

Evidence shows that education programs are significantly effective in increasing the accuracy of the nursing process and its use. 12 However, it has been concluded that students have difficulties in performing different stages or all stages of the nursing process during clinical practice. 9 In nursing education, students believing that the use of the nursing process is a necessity and providing nursing care in accordance to the process would facilitate using the nursing process in clinical practice after graduation. 16 , 22 In this context, it is important to determine the opinions of nursing students regarding the use of the nursing process and their levels of proficiency.

In the literature, studies examining the nursing process used by nursing students for delivering care for patients are available.

In most of these studies, the proficiency of students in being able to identify the nursing diagnosis was investigated. 7 , 11 , 16 , 19 In a few studies, the opinions of students regarding the use of the nursing process and their proficiency were determined. 9 , 27

Therefore the aim of this study was to determine the opinions of nursing students regarding the use of the nursing process, their level of proficiency in data collection according to Gordon’s Functional Health Patterns Model, their ability of identifying nursing diagnoses according to data, and to evaluate the proficiency of the nursing process they generate in regard to these diagnoses.

The study is important in means of determining the opinions of students regarding the nursing process, their competencies and shortcomings in the application of the nursing process stages, and in turn, making the necessary regulations in curriculums and supporting the education of students pertaining to the nursing process. In addition, the study would contribute to the determination of statistical data that show the levels of proficiency in the nursing process among nursing students who study at undergraduate nursing programs in Turkey.

Materials and methods

The sample of this descriptive study consisted of second year students who studied during the fall semester of 2014-2015, who passed the Fundamentals of Nursing course successfully, and who completed the theoretical part of the Internal Diseases Nursing course. In our study, a specific sample group was not selected and all 44 students were included in our sample.

The initial education on Gordon’s Functional Health Patterns Model and the NANDA diagnoses was provided for students by the researchers within the first year course “Fundamentals of Nursing” and lasted for 8 hours. During the second year, at the end of the course “Internal Diseases Nursing”, detailed education and case studies were provided on the model and the NANDA diagnoses. After the theoretical education, the students performed practice at the internal diseases clinic between 04 November and 27 December, 2014. Data was collected by examining 176 care plans prepared by the students.

The data collection form was developed by the researchers after investigating national and international literature and consisted of three parts. 9 , 15 , 28 The first part included 9 questions regarding believing in the necessity of the nursing process and the status of having difficulty in identifying the nursing diagnosis and in data collection among students. In the second part, students' competency in data collection, determining nursing diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation stages was investigated. Gordon's functional health patterns model was used in the data collection (assessment) stage. In addition, the model is included in the curriculum as a form used for providing patient care in clinical practice during the course of internal diseases nursing. In the assessment stage of the nursing process, 135 questions related to the 11 areas in the Functional Health Patterns Model and 23 questions related to physical examination findings were included. In the diagnosis stage of the nursing process, levels of competency regarding descriptive characteristics, etiological factors, and outcome criteria were evaluated. In the third part, the classification of NANDA diagnoses according to the areas in the Functional Health Patterns Model was evaluated.

Content validity was used for ensuring the validity of the instruments, in which the opinions of five academics were obtained with regards to content validity. The validity and comprehensibility of the instruments was tested in a pilot study with a sample group of 20 students. During the pilot study, content validity of the form was investigated, and similar questions were excluded. In addition, the instruments was administered to the students three weeks later, and the the test-retest reliability of the measure was checked (Cronbach's alpha 0.82). All ambiguities were corrected before the administration of the instruments to the final sample. The evaluation of their results indicated no problems in terms of the clarity and the implementation of the form.

After beginning clinical practice, the researchers provided training and counseling on collecting data and completing care plans for each student in the clinical setting. Data was obtained in two stages. In the first stage, the opinion of students regarding the process was obtained using the questionnaire method.

In the second stage, data was collected by examining the care plans prepared by the students. The students prepared care plans for the individuals they provided care for during clinical practice. The care plans were taken from the students after the practice for evaluation. The researcher evaluated each stage of the nursing process in the care plans according to the following criteria.

- Data collection stage: Demonstrating the present or the possible condition of the individual.

- Nursing diagnosis stage: descriptive characteristics being specific to the relevant NANDA diagnosis and the individual, reporting etiological factors in accordance with the nursing and medical diagnosis, the outcome criteria being related to etiological factors and the nursing diagnosis.

- Planning and implementation stage: being aimed at patient outcomes.

- Evaluation stage: being related to outcome criteria.

Data pertaining to all stages of the nursing process prepared by the students was grouped as "competent", "partially competent", and "incompetent". The NANDA nursing diagnosis determined by the students was classified according to the dimensions of the Functional Health Patterns Model. The evaluation was conducted by the researcher who provided training on the topic for the students.

Data was evaluated via the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) ver. 13.0 software and the Excel program using frequency distributions, percentiles, and means.

Prior to the study, the study was explained to the Graduate School Directorate and permission to carry out the study was obtained. After assigning grades for the Internal Diseases Nursing course practice, the aim and content of the study was explained to the students. Considering the principle of volunteerism, informed consent form was obtained from all participants.

Mean (SD) of the individuals who received care from the students was 62.20 (14.81) (min=18, max=87). It was found that 52.8% were female and 73.9% had more than one chronic condition.

Among the students, 65.9% believed in the necessity of using the nursing process in patient care, while one thirds (34.1%) believed that using the nursing process was not necessary. Students had the most difficulty in the data collection (22.7%) and diagnosing stages (29.6%) of the nursing process, whereas they had the least difficulty in the planning stage (13.6%) ( Table 1 ). Students reported that patients not giving the appropriate answers (38.6%), finding it difficult or embarrassing to ask patients the relevant questions (36.4%) during data collection, and the lack of theoretical knowledge (56.8%) during the diagnosing stage was the reasons for having difficulty.

According to the Gordon's Functional Health Patterns Model, we found that students were most proficient in "nutrition and metabolic condition" (77.8%), "elimination" (72.2%), and "cognitive and perceptual" (70.5%), whereas they were least proficient in "sexuality and reproductive" (60.2%), "values and beliefs" (34.7%), and "role and relationship functions" (31.2%). When we examined the care plans pertaining to the NANDA diagnoses, we found that 50.9% of the students explained descriptive characteristics, 54.2% explained etiological factors, 53.6% explained outcome criteria, 58.3% explained the planning stage, 41.3% explained the implementation stage, and 43.6% explained the assessment stage at sufficient levels ( Table 2 ).

*N=176 in the data collection stage, whereas n=897 in the nursing diagnoses, planning, implementation, and evaluation stages.

It was found that the students determined 54 different diagnoses in 176 care plans and a total of 1252 nursing diagnoses and that they applied 897 of these diagnoses. The most prevalent diagnoses determined by the students were "contamination risk" (10%), "pain" (10%), and "disturbed sleep patterns" (6.8%). It was found that the students did not make any diagnoses pertaining to "values and beliefs" and "sexuality and reproductive" ( Table 3 ).

* No diagnoses were made in the area of sexuality-reproduction and values-beliefs. ** Less than 3 diagnoses which were determined by the nursing student. These include risk for trauma, risk for vascular trauma, ineffective health management, risk for aspiration, risk for unstable blood glucose, ineffective tissue perfusion, impaired spontaneous ventilation, impaired cardiac output, impaired walking, sedentary lifestyle, self neglect, impaired comfort, impaired memory, risk for loneliness, hopelessness, impaired verbal communication, interrupted family processes, and risk for suicide.

The nursing process, which provides a professional problem solving approach, creativity and critical thinking skills, and a humanistic approach, is accepted to be a method for explaining science based nursing interventions. 8 During nursing education, students comprehending the importance of the nursing process are among the responsibilities of instructors. More than half of the students think that it is necessary to use the nursing process for performing patient care in clinics. Studies examining this topic yielded results supporting our findings. 8 , 22 , 27 , 29 Although our finding is positive, it was determined that more than one thirds of the students did not believe in the necessity of the nursing process. This finding is important and should be considered by nurse instructors.

Teaching the nursing process to the students in an efficient way is very important in means of nursing applications. 30 The majority of students reported that they did not have difficulties in all stages of the nursing process. This finding is important and positive as it indicates that the nursing process was taught in an efficient way during the training. Nevertheless, the students reported that they had the most difficulty in the data collection and diagnosing stages and the least difficulty in the planning stage. Some studies in the literature have yielded similar results. 22 , 29 , 31 In addition, in our study, the students stated that patients not giving appropriate answers to the questions during data collection, having difficulty in asking relevant questions to the patient or embarrassment, and lack of knowledge during the diagnosing process were among the reasons of having difficulties regarding the nursing process.

Data collection requires efficient questioning skills, whereas the diagnosis stage requires knowledge and critical thinking skills. This finding can be explained by the lack of knowledge and experience in students due to studying in the second year and by the fact that the students could not use critical thinking skills in patient care at sufficient levels. On the contrary, in one study, first year students were asked to determine nursing diagnoses via case studies and it was found that the students were successful in determining most of the nursing diagnoses. 20 In this context, the use of case studies and similar teaching methods, which contribute to the development of critical thinking skills, would facilitate the learning and formation of the nursing process.

Systematic data collection regarding the nursing process contributes to performing safe care as it facilitates solving the problems of an individual. 32

In the study, it was determined that the students were competent regarding the areas of nutrition and metabolic state,elimination, cognitive and perceptual pattern and were not competent regarding the areas of sexuality and reproduction, values and beliefs, role and relationship students collected most data on health perceptions, nutrition and metabolism, cognitive and perception patterns; whereas they collected least data on values and beliefs, safety and protection, coping and sexuality. 9 Similarly, in one study on nurses, it was found that the participants were incompetent in collecting data on sexuality and reproductive functions. 14 In the study, not being able to collect sufficient data on sexuality and reproduction, values and beliefs, role and relationship functions can be explained by the fact that these areas involve privacy and abstract concepts and that the students' levels of cognitive competency were not satisfactory.

The study showed that half of the students were competent in the explaining descriptive characteristics, etiological factors, outcome criteria, and the planning stage in the care plans pertaining to the determined diagnoses; whereas more than half of the students were not competent in explaining the implementation and evaluation stage. There are some studies that support our findings. In a study, Gok Ozer and Kuzu found that students' rates of determining nursing diagnoses, descriptive characteristics, related factors, outcome criteria, planning, implementation, and evaluation were at moderate levels. 9 In another study conducted on fourth year students, the result showed that the students were able to perform a sufficient number of interventions according to nursing diagnoses and able to perform almost all of the interventions they planned and that not being able to apply interventions was due to patient and clinic related problems. 30 In our study, the students were found to be less competent in the implementation and evaluation stages compared to other stages, which may be explained by the fact that they may experience shortcomings regarding transferring the theoretical knowledge they learned into practice since they are in second grade. Contrary to our findings, in one study, it was determined that the rates of determining nursing diagnoses, outcome criteria, planning, implementation, and evaluation in the care plans prepared by students were low; 7 whereas in another study, Karadakovan and Yeşilbalkan reported that students were incompetent in choosing interventions regarding nursing diagnoses. 16

For nurses, using nursing diagnoses constitute a basis for the provision of appropriate nursing care. 18 An accurate nursing diagnosis facilitates solving the patient's problems and enables the provision of systematic care. 17 The most prevalently determined diagnoses by the students that participated in the study were contamination risk, pain, and disturbed sleep patterns. Since the least data was collected on the areas of values and beliefs and sexuality and reproduction, students did not make any diagnoses regarding these areas. This finding is in line with the literature. 7 , 9 , 16 , 19 , 31

The diagnosis of contamination risk was frequently used by the students. This finding can be explained by the fact that the majority of patients had intravenous and urinary catheters that the incidence of nosocomial contaminations is high in hospitals, and that contamination risk is a presentable diagnosis. When we examined the study results, we saw that the nursing diagnoses used by the students were mostly related to physiological needs.

Other areas which could not be diagnosed involved patient privacy and abstract concepts. Due to the fact that the students were in second grade and that they have shortcomings in knowledge and experience regarding these areas, it may have been difficult for the students to acknowledge the psychological, social, intellectual, and spiritual needs of individuals. This finding is important in means of providing supportive education and application settings that would enable students to gain knowledge and experience for conducting a holistic evaluation and in means of following up students during consecutive years of education in order to overcome these shortcomings.

The nursing process has many benefits for the individual who is receiving care, the nurse, and the nursing student. An accurate nursing process facilitates solving the patient's problems and enables the provision of systematic care for patients.

During nursing education, students comprehending the importance of the nursing process are among the responsibilities of instructors. In this study, 176 care plans prepared by 44 students were examined. More than half of the students think that using the nursing process is necessary for providing patient care in clinics. According to Gordon's Functional Health Patterns Model, it was determined that the students were most proficient in collecting data on nutrition and metabolic condition, elimination, and cognitive and perceptual, whereas they were least proficient in collecting data on sexuality and reproductive, values and beliefs, and role and relationship functions. It was found that half of the students were competent in nursing diagnosis and planning stages but more than half of the students were incompetent in data collection, implementation, and evaluation stages.

In the light of the study results, use of the nursing process in care should be taught to students beginning from first grade in order to promote their beliefs in the necessity of the nursing process. For increasing the efficacy and competency of the nursing process, prior to clinical application, it is recommended to perform the nursing process via case studies pertaining to the nursing process and nursing diagnoses. In the areas of sexuality and reproduction and values and beliefs, where students were incompetent in data collection and determining nursing diagnoses, data collection techniques can be supported and students' level of competency can be evaluated in consecutive years of education.

Moreover, instructors should provide case discussions during clinical practice and guide students in preparing the process of nursing care. In all stages of the nursing process, practical and up-to-date knowledge that is appropriate for the clinical environment can be taught to students and the opportunity to apply the nursing process in different patient groups via clinical rotation can be provided in order to increase students' level of competency. In addition, it is recommended to conduct studies with large sample groups in other universities in order to compare students' levels of competency.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all nursing students in School of Susehri Health High, Cumhuriyet University.

Ethical issues

None to be declared.

Conflict of interest

The authors have disclosed no potential conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise.

Please cite this paper as: Taskın Yilmaz F, Sabanciogullari S, Aldemir K. The opinions of nursing students regarding the nursing process and their levels of proficiency in Turkey. J Caring Sci 2015; 4 (4): 265-75. doi: 10.15171/jcs.2015.027 .

Why Is the Nursing Process Important?

The nursing process is one of the most important aspects of any nursing procedure. Nurses need a plan, and they need to know what things they are looking for before they start examining or caring for their patients.

For some nursing students, this is an easy process, but it may take several clinical rotations to make it second nature for others. It is still necessary for student nurses to put a lot of effort into writing a good care plan. First, they must fully understand the Nursing Process.

In this blog post, we will explore why the nursing process is important at all stages of a person’s life cycle, including neonatal, pediatric, adult health, senior health as well as end-of-life care.

We will also highlight how various healthcare settings have different approaches to implementing.

What is the Nursing Process?

The nursing process is a term that can be interpreted in many ways. Some may think it’s the process of giving care to medically fragile patients , while others may believe it’s the method of planning and providing nursing care within a specific scope of practice.

According to the US National Library of Medicine , “The nursing process, which is the most important tool for putting nursing knowledge into practice, is a systematic problem-solving method for determining the health care needs of a healthy or ill individual and for providing personalized care.”

In reality, the nursing process refers to any sequence of actions used by nurses during their delivery or provision of patient care , with the goal being a practical outcome for both patients and nurses.

To provide the best care for a patient, nurses must understand and follow the nursing process. The key components of this process are assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation.

Why Is the Nursing Process Necessary?

The first step is to assess the patient. This will help them figure out what care they need and how much that care might cost. It also allows nurses to find any problems or concerns while establishing rapport with their patients.

Next, most nursing procedures involve a plan for caring for a specific condition or problem such as medication administration, wound dressing changes, assisting in feeding and mobility exercises, etc. Nurses often use checklists to ensure all aspects are covered before moving on to the next task on the list.

Additionally, there may be an order sheet listing medications prescribed by doctors which need to be administered when filling prescriptions at pharmacies or other locations off-site from hospitals (i.e., clinics).

In this case, the nurse must pull up that order sheet, find out which medications need to be given at a specific time or place.

Once this is done, nurses will review the patient’s chart and update it as necessary with information about the medication administration (i.e., when it was given).

Finally, they may check in on their patients periodically during rounds to ensure everything goes well – using established nursing assessment skills such as checking vital signs.

Some Nursing Steps for Nurses

Nurses use these five steps to work with patients in various clinical settings such as hospitals or doctors’ offices. They help ensure that the assessments are accurate and that the plan is appropriate for each individual’s needs. 

The five basic nursing steps are listed below, with more detailed descriptions provided underneath each one.

History and Physical Examination

A history is taken from the patient and examines their respiratory, cardiovascular, neurologic, gastrointestinal, and genitourinary systems.

Assessment: This step involves examining data to determine what interventions are needed for a particular situation or problem. It also includes considering other factors such as psychosocial needs.

Plan Development: Plans are made to address all aspects of the care required for each individual’s condition or need.

Implementation/Implementation Checklist: Actions are taken according to the plan created in Step Three while ensuring that everything is carried out with efficiency and effectiveness, which will lead to quality nursing care.

A checklist ensures no steps have been missed during implementation (for example, checking skin integrity).

Evaluation, Follow Up, Discharge Plan: Provides a summary of what is essential in this process and an overview to help identify areas that could be improved upon or scrapped altogether.

It shares information about how these steps are used in different clinical settings such as hospitals or doctors’ offices to ensure accurate assessments and appropriate plans for individual needs.

Accurate Vital Signs Critical

Obtaining a complete set of vital signs is critical to the assessment process. These include temperature, blood pressure, oxygen saturation levels, and pain score. 

The frequency with which vital signs are assessed varies in different acute surgical settings (Zeitz, 2003) . At Trillium Health Partners in Mississauga, Ontario, clinical order sets guide nurse behavior related to wound care, medications, laboratory monitoring, and vital signs. 

These clinical order sets are reviewed and updated every two years to ensure they meet current standards of care and best practice recommendations. 

During the biannual revision process, both literature reviews and external site surveys are conducted. Recently, this included verifying the clinical order sets regarding how frequently nurses are instructed to take vital signs following surgery.

Additionally, there is some mention made towards other considerations when it comes to assessing patients.

Who Developed the Nursing Process?

Florence Nightingale developed the process in nursing in 1859.

In 1881, the process was further developed by Louisa Alcott that expanded to include assessment of the patient’s nutritional status and elimination pattern as well as careful observation for any signs of problems in these two areas.

Nurses’ Role

Nurses have a clear role in this process because they are responsible for assessing patients before initiating treatment, such as administering medications, providing bedside care during examination or surgery, checking vital signs including blood pressure, temperature, respiratory rate, and pulse, monitoring IV fluids continuously throughout the hospital stay while keeping records on intake/output measurements (daily weight), daily food consumption, bowel movements and urination patterns among others.

Conclusion:

In summary, following proper procedures while administering care shows respect for your work and ensures the safety of yourself and all those involved. It can also help prevent mistakes from happening due to oversight by ensuring you have taken adequate steps before moving on.

This article hopes that we have helped convey why the nursing process is integral to quality patient care and what good nursing practice looks like.

About The Author

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