The Nursing Process
In nursing nurses use a process called the Nursing Process. The Nursing Process a is a five step process that ensures excellence in the care of the patient. Critical Thinking is very important in every step of this process. Assessment is the first step. In assessment you are checking your patient from head to toe looking for any lesions, discoloration, rashes, checking the texture of skin and also checking to make sure your patient is hydrated. During assessment you will also want to collect your patients’ medical history. After you asses your patient you will take your information that you collected and put it into your facilities Database.
There are different types of data such as Subjective Data and Objective Data, along with other types of data. Subjective Data is when patients say they are in pain. Objective Data is based on measurements such as a patient’s weight, heart rate, and blood pressure. In Data Analysis you compare data. For example,if a patient has abnormal lab values you would compare the patients abnormal lab values to the normal lab values and see how much of a difference there is in the numbers.
Nursing Diagnosis is the second step in the Nursing Process.The NANDA International helps in Nursing Diagnosis with organization. A Concept Map is a map that can help you organize your Nursing Diagnosis In a concept map you can organize the interventions you could do, what diagnostic testing could be done, what the signs and symptoms of a condition are, what medications can be used. One example of a Nursing Diagnoses could be you have a patient with cancer, and the chemotherapy your patient is on has now caused the patient some fatigue. Now that you know your patient has some fatigue from the chemotherapy, you need to think critically about what you could do to subside some of the fatigue that your patient may be having.
The third part of the Nursing Process is planning. When you are planning you need to set goals for your patient. Setting goals are very important for your patients. One thing that can help you plan your patients’ treatment, and goals is to make out a Care Plan.
Implementation is the next step of the Nursing Process. With implementation you are giving care to your patients. Examples of implementation are giving medications, promoting patient safety,

The last step in the Nursing Process is Evaluation. During evaluation you are evaluating whether your patient’s condition is in better condition or in worse condition after have given care. When you are evaluating your patient you ask them questions such as how are you feeling? Do you feel like you are doing better after starting the medication or do you feel you are doing worse since starting the medication? According to nursingprocess.org “If the condition of the patient has shown no improvement, then the nursing progress begins again from the first step”.
References
The 5 Steps of the Nursing Process. (n.d.). Retrieved August 30, 2018, from https://www.nursingprocess.org/Nursing-Process-Steps.html