The nursing process is a systematic and critical thinking method used by nurses to provide individualized care and address client health needs through assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation. This process includes various types of assessments, diagnoses based on client responses, and strategic planning for interventions. The nursing diagnosis differs from medical diagnosis as it focuses on human responses to health issues, guiding nurses in effective care management.

1. THE NURSING
PROCESS
UNDERSTANDING
SAPHAN C. AGABA
BScN, MSc.HPE
UGANDA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
Ⓒ2022

2. DEFINITION.
•Nursing process is a critical
thinking process that professional
nurses use to apply the best
available evidence to caregiving
and promoting human functions
and responses to health and
illness (American Nurses
Association, 2010)

3. DEFINITION Cont’d.
•Nursing process is a systematic
method of providing care to
clients.
•The nursing process is a
systematic method of planning
and providing individualized
nursing care

4. The nursing process the nurse
helps to;
Identify a client’s health status and actual or
potential health care problems or needs.
Establish plans to meet the identified needs.
Deliver specific nursing interventions to meet
those needs

5. Components/Steps of the
Nursing Process
ADPIE

7. Characteristics of Nursing Process
•Cyclic
•Dynamic nature,
•Client centeredness
•Focus on problem solving and
decision making
•Interpersonal and
collaborative style
•Universal applicability
•Use of critical thinking and
clinical reasoning

8. Assessment is the
systematic and
continuous collection,
organization,
validation, and
documentation of data
(information)

9. Types of assessment
•The four different types of assessments are;
1. Initial nursing assessment
2. Problem-focused assessment
3. Emergency assessment
4. Time-lapsed reassessment/partial continuous
Several months after initial assessment. To compare the client’s
current health status with the data previously obtained

10. TYPES OF DATA
SUBJECTIVE DATA
• Also referred to as symptoms or covert data, are clear only to the person
affected and can be described only by that person.
• Itching, pain, and feelings of worry are examples of subjective data
OBJECTIVE DATA
Also referred to as signs or overt data, are detectable by an observer or
can be measured or tested against an accepted standard.
They can be seen, heard, felt, or smelled, and they are obtained by
observation or physical examination.
• For example, a discoloration of the skin or a blood pressure reading is
objective data

11. Organization of data
•The nurse uses a format that organizes
the assessment data systematically.
•This is often referred to as nursing
health history or nursing assessment
form

12. Validation of data
•The information gathered during the
assessment is “double-checked” or
verified to confirm that it is accurate
and complete

13. Documentation of data
•To complete the assessment phase, the
nurse records client data.
•Accurate documentation is essential and
should include all data collected about
the client’s health status

14. Diagnosis is the second
phase of the nursing
process.
In this phase, nurses use
critical thinking skills to
interpret assessment data
to identify client
problems.
North American Nursing Diagnosis
Association (NANDA) defines the
diagnoses

15. NURSING DIAGNOSIS
•The official NANDA definition of a nursing
diagnosis is:
“a clinical judgment concerning a human
response to health conditions/life
processes, or a vulnerability for that
response, by an individual, family, group,
or community”

16. TYPES of the Nursing Diagnosis
•ACTUAL NDx – a client problem that is present at the
time of the nursing assessment.
•RISK/POTENTIAL NDx – a clinical judgement that a
problem does not exist, but the presence of risk factors
indicates that a problem may develop if adequate care is
not given
•HEALTH PROMOTION NDX – relates to clients’
preparedness to improve their health condition

17. Components of a NANDA Nursing Diagnosis
A nursing diagnosis has three components:
1. The problem (P)and its definition
• Describes the client’s health problem
2. The etiology (E)
• Identifies causes of the health problem.
3. The defining characteristics (S)
• Signs and symptoms that indicate the presence of health problem

18. Formulating Diagnostic Statements
The Nursing diagnosis = P+E+S
PROBLEM [P] Etiology [E] Evidence (defining
characteristics)
ACUTE ABDOMINAL PAIN
Acute inflammation of the
appendix,
• Guarding
• Patient assuming a bent
position to relieve the
pain
• Patient verbalizing a
9/10 pain scale
• Flushed patient face
• Patient sighing

19. NURSING DIAGNOSIS VS MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS
NURSING DIAGNOSIS MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS
A nursing diagnosis is a statement of
nursing judgment that made by nurse,
by their education, experience, and
expertise, are licensed to treat.
A medical diagnosis is made by a
physician.
Nursing diagnoses may change as
the client’s responses change.
A client’s medical diagnosis
remains the same for as long as the
disease is present
Nursing diagnoses describe the human
response to an illness or a health
problem.
Medical diagnoses refer to disease
processes

20. PLANNING involves
decision making and
problem solving.
• It is the process of
formulating client
goals and designing
the nursing
interventions
required to prevent,
reduce, or eliminate
the client’s health
problems
CARE

21. THE PLANNING PROCESS
•Setting priorities
•Establishing client goals/desired outcomes
•Selecting nursing interventions and
activities
•Writing individualized nursing interventions
on care plans

22. SETTING PRIORITIES
• Decide which nursing diagnosis requires attention first, which wil
come next or last.
• The Maslow’s hierarchy of needs helps you to set priorities

23. THE MASLOW’S
HIERARCHY OF
NEEDS

24. GOAL & DESIRED OUTCOMES
• After establishing priorities, the nurse set goals
for each nursing diagnosis.
Goals may be;
Short term
Long term

25. NURSING INTERVENTIONS
A nursing intervention is any treatment, that a
nurse performs to improve patient’s health
•Independent intervention:
• Nurse can, Nurse will, Nurse is silenced to Do
•Dependent Interventions:
• Nurse does under orders or supervision of a physician
•Collaborative interventions:
• Nurse can do in collaboration with others professions

27. IMPLEMENTATION
•Implementation consists of doing and
documenting the activities
•The process of implementation includes;
•• Implementing the nursing interventions
•• Documenting nursing activities

28. EVALUATION
• Evaluation is a planned, ongoing, purposeful activity in
which the nurse determines
• (a)the client’s progress toward achievement of
goals/outcomes and
• (b)the effectiveness of the nursing care plan
• The evaluation includes;
• Comparing the data with desired outcomes
• Continuing, modifying, or terminating the nursing care
plan

29. THANK
YOU