The nursing process is used to systematically deliver patient care and includes five steps: assessment, where nurses collect data on patients through interviews, exams, and tests; diagnosis, where nurses analyze and interpret the data to identify nursing diagnoses; planning, where nurses prioritize needs, set goals, and select interventions; implementation, where nurses carry out the planned care; and evaluation, where nurses assess the effectiveness of the interventions and modify the plan of care if needed. The goals are focused on what the patient will achieve, not the nurse's actions.