Question

What are the steps of the nursing process? How does the nursing process assist in prioritizing nursing care?

Answer 1

Nursing process is the goal oriented method that involves utilization of professional knowledge, experiences and evidence based research to formulate a nursing care plan.

Nursing process emphasise nurses to develop critical thinking that will help make sound clinical judgements and decisions.

The steps involved in nursing process are:

1. Assessment : This includes history taking, physical examination of the patient tgrough observation, palpation, percussion and auscultation.

2. Diagnosis : make a sound diagnosis of the patient condition based on results of patient assessment

3. Planning : plan a nursing care plan for the patient according to the need of patient

4. Implementation : implement interventions for the patient condition which will help improve the patient health.

5. Evaluation : evaluate the patient's health status through various health outcome tools that will help in determining the progress of treatment given to patient.
The process of nursing involves assessment of the patient which will help in identification of different problem areas and will help in interpreting the priority problems. Based on these priority problems nurses can make a diagnosis and provide priority interventions for the same. For eg, when assessing the patient with road traffic accident the nurse comes to know through assessment that the patient's airway is blocked due to accudental debris. The nurse on priority basis will clear the airway blockage and ensure patent airway. If the patient is still not able to breath nurse will provide tge patient with oxygen therapy.
This is how process of nursing helps in prioritising nursing care.