Nursing Process

Keywords: Nursing Process
The nursing process is methodical and focused on assessing and treating patients. It is the equilibrium between scientific evidence and personal interpretation based on critical thinking and intuition.

This process deals not only with the medical needs of a patient but also with the social and emotional needs and is used to create goals which are patient-centered, measurable and realistic for the improvement of an individual or a group.
The Nursing Process Steps
The nursing process has five steps:
1.  Assessment: The nurse uses tools such as interviews, physical examinations and observation to learn about the psychological, sociological and physiological conditions of the patient along with his family health history.
2.  Diagnosis: The nurse makes an educated judgment about the actual and potential problems of the patient and decides on a course of action.
3.  Planning: After a consensus about the diagnosis is reached, a plan of action is made. In case of multiple diagnoses, assessments are prioritized according to high-risk potentials and severe symptoms. Evidence-based nursing outcome classification or the nursing intervention classification is used for tracking patient progress.
4.  Implementing: The plan is carried out and the patient is monitored for signs of improvement. He/she is also taken care of and educated.
5.  Evaluation: The situation is evaluated to see if the goals have been met. Some general observations in this phase include ’patient’s condition improved’, ‘patient’s condition stabilized’ or ‘patient’s condition deteriorated’,’ died’ or ‘was discharged’. If no change is seen, the process begins over again.
Categories of Nurses
Different nurses may be employed in different capacities and may fulfill all or some parts of the nursing process. There are several levels of nursing requiring different levels of education:
·  A Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) has twelve months of training in fundamental nursing, basic health care, poison control and nutrition followed by hands-on experience after which license is gained by passing the National Licensure Examination.
·  A Registered Nurse has a four-year Bachelor of Science or an associate degree in nursing or a nursing diploma degree from a hospital and some work experience in the field.
·  A Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) is a registered nurse with a master’s in nursing and advanced training in clinical assessment, pharmacology and pathophysiology.
·  A Nurse Practitioner is a registered nurse with a master’s degree and advanced training in diagnoses, medical treatment and possibly in fields of medicine.