Nursing process

there are five steps to the nursing process. know what goes on in each step. from now until you finish nursing school most test questions can be placed somewhere on the nursing process timeline. this helps you decide on what the correct answer should be.

understand that the nursing process is the problem solving process that we use. the steps need to be followed in the order they occur to be effective in solving problems and critical thinking. the written documentation of the nursing process is called a care plan.

1. assessment (collect data from medical record, do a physical assessment of the patient, assess adl's, look up information about your patient's medical diseases/conditions to learn about the signs and symptoms and pathophysiology)
   
2. determination of the patient's problem(s)/nursing diagnosis (make a list of the abnormal assessment data, match your abnormal assessment data to likely nursing diagnoses, decide on the nursing diagnoses to use)
   
3. planning (write measurable goals/outcomes and nursing interventions)
   
4. implementation (initiate the care plan)
   
5. evaluation (determine if goals/outcomes have been met)

here are some websites that have information about the nursing process:

• http://home.cogeco.ca/~nursingprocess/index.htm - this is a site that defines and explains what the nursing process and critical thinking is. you can also click on the links at the left side of the webpage to go to various subjects included within the nursing process to find out more about them.
  
• https://nursing.advanceweb.com/common/ce/course.aspx?courseid=504&creditid=1 - nursing process - click on the link to "read the article". this is the actual link: https://nursing.advanceweb.com/common/ce/content.aspx?courseid=504&creditid=1&cc=68974&sid=1837
  
• http://www.mac.edu/faculty/nursingdepartment/200%20level/nursing_process.htm#return%20to%20top - the nursing process - a short introductory tutorial of what it is
  
• http://www.childbirths.com/euniversity/nursingprocess.htm - the nursing process and writing nursing care plans. from e-university
  
• http://www06.homepage.villanova.edu/elizabeth.bruderle/1103/nursingprocess.htm - the nursing process
  
• http://studentnursesource.com/nursing_process.html - an analogy of the nursing process to the real world

if you need information on how to answer nursing test questions, read the information on this sticky thread:

• https://allnurses.com/forums/f50/looking-test-taking-stratagies-224581.html - looking for test taking strategies (on the nursing student discussion forum)