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 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.
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.
