The nursing process is a series of organized steps by which nurses deliver care to clients supported by evidence-based theories.

Kay Chitty (2007) defined the nursing process as "a method of critical thinking focused on solving patient problems in professional practice" (p. 192). Critical thinking is significant to the nursing process because nurses do a great deal of analyzing information, making reasoned decisions, recognizing viewpoints, and continuously seeking answers. The nursing process is patient centered, only caring for the client's response or behavior to their specific health condition and improving social and emotional needs as well. The nursing process exists for every problem that the client has and will lead to changes as the client's health either improves or deteriorates. Assessment is the first step to the nursing process which gathers a client's data. You can obtain data through primary sources, secondary sources, tertiary sources, client interview, and physical examination. They are two types of primary sources, subjective data which is the client's description of their condition, referred to as symptoms and objective data, which is what the nurse observes, also know as signs. Once the data has been collected, the process moves on to analysis which organizes the data and groups them into clusters to recognize a client's problem. Once you have identified the patient's problems related to their health status, you formulate a nursing diagnosis for each of them. "In 1990 Nanda defined nursing diagnosis as 'a clinical judgement about individual, family, or community responses to actual or potential health problems/like processes (which) provide the basis for selection of nursing interventions to achieve outcomes for which the nurse is accountable'" (Chitty, 2007, p.198). The North American Nursing Diagnosis Association (NANDA) developed a diagnostic terminology used for formating nursing diagnoses. Their classification system consist of domains and classes which assist nurses to selecting specific nursing diagnosis. I believe the classification system is a fast and helpful way for selecting interventions. The classification system individualizes each client to met their specific needs. Nursing diagnoses must be supported by defining characteristics such as subjective and objective data. Once you pick the specific diagnoses approved by NANDA, you formulate them into the four types: actual nursing diagnosis, risk nursing diagnosis, health promotion diagnosis, and wellness diagnosis. Organizing a concept map shows the connection between the client's problems. After diagnoses are identified, the nurse must rank them in order of highest priority of diagnosis first. Kay Chitty (2007) claims "diagnoses that are life threatening are the nurse's first priority" (p.199). Planning interventions involves identifying the client's goals and expected outcomes to reach those goals. Each diagnosis has a goal that states what the client will do in a measurable way, with a specific condition, and has a specific time frame. Selecting interventions to meet the client's goals begin with ordering interventions based on the priority order of diagnosis. Nurses document the client's interventions that will treat their diagnoses in writing nursing orders to enhance communication with other nurses so that any nurse can identify a client's needs.

Implementation takes place when nursing orders are actually performed. Always reassess clients to ensure that the intervention is still appropriate based on the client's condition. If the client's status changed, review and revise the nursing process. Organize resources and care delivery to prevent errors and risk complications. As the nurse is carrying out interventions, they are constantly assessing, documenting the client's response to the interventions. Evaluation examines if the client's condition improved and if expected outcomes are met. You identify the goals and expected outcomes and examine the actual outcome by evaluative measures. Comparing expected and actual outcomes determines if the client is progressing or not. Then, you make a clinical judgement whether to terminate, continue, or revise the nursing process. Mrs. Smith came seeking for help. She was notified for having a possible paralysis. She revealed she was concerned about her surgery and was uncertain about what to expect. As the interview went on, I noticed a cue that Mrs. Smith had poor eye contact towards me as she spoke about her planned surgery. I collected the data I found and validate them with the nursing staff to confirm my findings. I organize the information into groups of clusters to distinguish patterns, risk factors, and compare them with standards. I discovered the defining characteristics, which are poor eye contact and uncertain about what to expect, reveals a problem with coping. I diagnosed Mrs. Smith with anxiety related to threat to health status as a result of surgery manifested by uncertainty about what to expect and poor eye contact. Mrs. Smith and I established a short term goal reciting that Mrs. Smith will accept the plan for surgical procedure before the surgery is scheduled. The expected outcome is that Mrs. Smith will express easiness about the surgery within the next 6 hours. With critical thinking, I came up with a nursing-initiated independent intervention and wrote down nursing orders to provide detailed instructions on the surgical procedure, recovery process, and postoperative care activities; also mentioning alternatives and giving full knowledge on their risk, to ensure they picked the right treatment. I planned a proper time for Mrs. Smith to ask me questions. Before implementing carries out the interventions, I reassess Mrs. Smith to make certain that the intervention is is appropriate. Yes, Mrs. Smith is still uncertain about the procedure and has trouble coping. Potter Perry (2009) states that intervention takes place in "a calm and supportive environment to provide a safe and clean environment" (p. 270). As Mrs. Smith learns about the procedure and obtains full knowledge of her choices and risk, I document her response. I evaluated Mrs. Smith after 6 hours based on the expected outcome. I examined her actual outcome by evaluative measures. Mrs. Smith was able to summarize the surgical procedure and began to express her feelings and accept the procedure knowing that it would only enhance her wellness. I also observed that Mrs. Smith was communicating with eye contact. I compared the expected and actual outcome and saw that Mrs. Smith met her expected outcome and progressed significantly. With all the information obtained and documenting her condition, it is safe to say that Mrs. Smith will be terminated.