To begin the nursing process, assessment involves collecting information about the patient and their health. This information is used to identify any problems, or potential problems, that may need to be addressed while you’re caring for a patient.
Example: If you’re admitting an older patient who is falling and getting injured at home, you’ll want to do a thorough physical and mental health assessment, including a medical history to try and determine why this is happening.
Some important things you’ll want to find out are:
The Nursing Diagnosis is the second step in the nursing process and involves identifying real or potential health problems for a patient based on the information you gathered during the assessment.
Example: Using the falls patient example above, you may identify from your assessment that the patient is falling because they’re tripping on things in their environment that they don’t see, like their pet cat lying on the floor and loose scatter rugs.
Based on this, you might form a diagnosis such as “Falls related to poor vision, cluttered environment, unsteady gait, Lt. hip pain due to previous fall.”
Planning or Outcomes is the third step in the nursing process. This step involves developing a nursing care plan that includes goals and strategies to address the problems identified during the assessment and diagnosis steps.
Example: Continuing with the example above, you will likely recommend that the patient keep their environment,
As the fourth step of the nursing process, implementation involves putting the plan of care into action.
Example In the above example, this would include:
The last step of the nursing process is evaluation , which involves determining whether or not the goals of care have been met.
Example Here you would look back at the patient’s medical record to see if the patient has had any further falls since implementing the preventative actions above.
If so, you would repeat the nursing process over and reassess why this is still happening and plan new actions to prevent future falls.
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The nursing process is also characterized by the following elements.
The nursing process is an evolving process that continues throughout a patient’s admission or illness and ends when the problems identified by the nurse are no longer an issue.
The entire nursing process is sensitive to and responsive to the patient's needs, preferences, and values. As nurses, we need to act as patient advocates and protect the patient’s right to make informed decisions while involving the patient in goal setting and attainment.
This describes the level of interaction that may be required between nurses, patients, families and supports, and the interprofessional healthcare team. These aspects of the nursing process require mutual respect, cooperation, clear communication, and decision-making that is shared between all parties involved.
As a widely and globally accepted standard in nursing practice, the nursing process follows the same steps, regardless of where a nurse works.
The nursing process is also an objective and predictable process for planning, conducting, and evaluating patient care that is based on a large body of scientific evidence found in peer-reviewed nursing research.
Most importantly, it’s essential that nurses use critical thinking when planning patient care using the nursing process. This means as nurses, we must use a combination of our knowledge and past experiences with the information we have about a current patient to make the best decisions we can about nursing care.
The nursing process was introduced in 1958 by Ida Jean Orlando. Today, it continues to be the most widely-accepted method of prioritizing, organizing, and providing patient care in the nursing profession.
It’s characterized by the key elements of:
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This section of allnurses' Next-Gen NCLEX-RN Study Guide focuses on The Nursing Process. Resources
Phase 3: planning.
Since the Next-Gen NCLEX-RN is a test that challenges nursing concepts rather than focusing solely on nursing content, you must understand how to use The Nursing Process.
The Nursing Process is a systematic approach nurses use to provide effective, safe patient care. It comprises five phases: Assessment & Analysis, Diagnosis, Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation. Each phase plays a crucial role in delivering quality nursing care, and understanding these phases is essential for success on the NCLEX exam.
This article is part of a more extensive study guide for the Next-Gen NCLEX-RN:
The first step of The Nursing Process, assessment, is a nurse's most important skill to grow and nurture. Assessment allows nurses to identify actual or potential alterations in health, safety, and overall well-being for their patients, families, and communities. Assessment can include:
On the NCLEX, many questions challenge candidates to understand the importance of assessment. Sometimes, the question is written to challenge the candidates' understanding of the importance of further assessment when there isn't enough information to make a sound judgment. Other times, the questions may challenge the candidates' ability to recognize the limitations of their scope of practice. Despite the structure of the questions, knowing the key points surrounding the concept of assessment will help in selecting correct answers.
Key points for assessment include:
Once the assessment phase of The Nursing Process is completed, the nurse must take the time to review all of the information collected, which leads to analysis.
During the analysis phase of The Nursing Process, the nurse takes the time to put all the pieces together. Over time, this practice becomes second nature, but for new graduate nurses, this requires some conscious effort. When you take the time to make sense of all of the information collected from a patient or an NCLEX test question, the focus or problem becomes much clearer. This step allows for easier identification of actual or potential issues and enables the nurse to move more confidently into the next phase of The Nursing Process.
On the NCLEX, the concept of analysis is often challenged. In fact, analysis-level questions are the most complex questions on the exam and therefore require sharp analysis skills. Since this is a skill that nursing students do not get very much practice with during their programs, this is often the most difficult skill for new grads to master before sitting for their exams. To help you improve your analysis skills, we've put together a few key points to remember.
Some key points for analysis include:
Once all of the data has been analyzed, the nurse can easily identify actual and potential alterations to health, thus leading to the next phase of The Nursing Process.
During the diagnosis phase of The Nursing Process, nurses create a list of all the actual and potential alterations to health that their patients present with. Nursing diagnoses stem from the direct observations of the nurse and are health issues that the nurse is licensed to manage. On the NCLEX, questions written about the diagnosis phase of The Nursing Process challenges candidates to understand the why .
We all learned that nursing diagnoses cannot include medical diagnoses . The typical reason given for this is nurses are not doctors. Although this is true, it does not explain the difference between a nursing diagnosis and a medical diagnosis. Therefore, here are the key differences so test-takers can better understand their role in creating and managing nursing diagnoses.
Nursing Diagnosis:
Examples of nursing diagnoses include acute pain, altered nutrition, decreased cardiac output, ineffective coping mechanisms, knowledge deficit, risk for injury, etc.
Medical Diagnosis:
Examples of medical diagnoses include asthma, bowel obstruction, congestive heart failure, diabetes, fibromyalgia, hyperlipidemia, etc.
Once a nurse has identified all the actual and potential nursing diagnoses for the patient, they can move into planning.
During the planning phase of The Nursing Process, the nurse focuses on assigning priorities to all of the actual and potential health alterations, as well as begins to consider all of the ways that the nurse can meet the patient's needs. The nurse will establish goals that are patient-specific, measurable, and have an established time frame. To meet the goals that have been established, the nurse must also identify all nursing interventions that will assist the nurse in meeting the needs of the patient.
On the NCLEX, questions written about the planning phase of The Nursing Process make up the majority of the exam. Planning questions typically involve many nursing concepts that fall within the NCLEX test plan categories of Management of Care (NCLEX- RN) and Coordination of Care (NCLEX-PN). These questions often require the test-taker to make careful decisions regarding what action is best or which intervention will meet the client's needs based on their clinical presentation.
Since the planning phase of The Nursing Process involves many nursing concepts and considerations, we've created a list of key terms that can help you to find the nursing concept the question is challenging, so you can focus on selecting the correct answer.
Concept: Establishing Priorities
Concept: Therapeutic Communication
Concept: Delegation
Concept: Teach & Learning Principle
Understanding that the nursing concept of safety can be incorporated and challenged on every question type is important. There aren't any specific terms or statements that can alert the test-taker that the question is focusing on safety. Since the NCLEX aims to determine if candidates are demonstrating safe decision-making skills, it is vital to consider safety at all times.
Once the planning phase is completed, the nurse can implement the plan.
The implementation phase of The Nursing Process includes all activities and interventions that help the nurse meet the patient's needs. These activities include but are not limited to assisting patients with activities of daily living (ADLs), teaching others, performing patient care skills, giving medications, putting safety measures in place, documenting, and supervising the care that other healthcare team members provide.
On the NCLEX, questions about The Nursing Process's implementation phase are also very common. Candidates often have to decide which action or intervention will best meet the patient's needs or resolve the problem presented in the question. Implementation questions can come from all of the other NCLEX test plan categories.
Since implementation focuses on the action or interventions of nursing practice, these questions can embody all of the test plan categories. To make it easier to understand, we've created a list of actions and interventions you may see from each category on the NCLEX test plan.
Category: Safe and Effective Care Environment
Category: Health Promotion and Maintenance
Category: Psychosocial Integrity
Category: Physiological Integrity
The final phase of The Nursing Process is evaluation. After completing the actions, interventions, nursing skills, teaching, etc., it's time to determine if we've met the patient's needs. This step is just as essential as the assessment.
On the NCLEX, questions that focus on the evaluation phase of The Nursing Process challenge candidates to understand the intricacies of expected and unexpected outcomes. Did the nitroglycerin tablet have the intended effect on the patient? Is the patient having an adverse reaction to the medication? Is the absence of chest pain the goal for administering nitroglycerin?
These are all examples of evaluating the effectiveness of treatment. Whether the interventions performed are independent, dependent, or interdependent, the nurse is responsible for evaluating whether or not it is meeting the client's needs and whether the task was done correctly and safely. To help you identify if the question is about evaluation, we've created a list of key terms to signal that you're working within the evaluation phase of The Nursing Process.
Here is a list of key terms that will let you know you should be focusing on the concept of evaluation:
The current care plan will be continued if the nurse identifies that the actions and interventions meet the patient's needs. Suppose the nurse identifies that the actions or interventions are not meeting the patient's needs or are not resulting in expected outcomes. In that case, the nurse will return to the assessment phase of The Nursing Process and collect more information to create and initiate a new care plan.
Many nursing students have a hard time speaking to the concept of critical thinking.
Critical thinking is one of the hardest concepts to teach nursing students. The nursing professors more or less facilitate it. However, the student must take the initiative and effectively demonstrate critical thinking through disciplined and systematic practice. Fortunately, we've identified a simplified yet effective process for mastering critical thinking, which helps significantly in improving a test-taker's accuracy when answering practice questions.
To be able to think critically, one must be able to:
What do the above steps sound like? Let's take a closer look:
Critical thinking is the same thing as using The Nursing Process. Many nursing students leave their programs not fully understanding that The Nursing Process was designed as a systematic approach to critical thinking so that nurses remain objective, safe, and always work within their scope of practice.
Damion Jenkins has 14 years experience as a MSN, RN and specializes in NCLEX Prep Expert - 100% Pass Rate!.
The common thread uniting different types of nurses who work in varied areas is the nursing process—the essential core of practice for the registered nurse to deliver holistic, patient-focused care. Assessment An RN uses a systematic, dynamic way to collect and analyze data about a client, the first step in delivering nursing care. Assessment includes not only physiological data, but also psychological, sociocultural, spiritual, economic, and life-style factors as well. For example, a nurse’s assessment of a hospitalized patient in pain includes not only the physical causes and manifestations of pain, but the patient’s response—an inability to get out of bed, refusal to eat, withdrawal from family members, anger directed at hospital staff, fear, or request for more pain mediation.
Diagnosis The nursing diagnosis is the nurse’s clinical judgment about the client’s response to actual or potential health conditions or needs. The diagnosis reflects not only that the patient is in pain, but that the pain has caused other problems such as anxiety, poor nutrition, and conflict within the family, or has the potential to cause complications—for example, respiratory infection is a potential hazard to an immobilized patient. The diagnosis is the basis for the nurse’s care plan.
Outcomes / Planning Based on the assessment and diagnosis, the nurse sets measurable and achievable short- and long-range goals for this patient that might include moving from bed to chair at least three times per day; maintaining adequate nutrition by eating smaller, more frequent meals; resolving conflict through counseling, or managing pain through adequate medication. Assessment data, diagnosis, and goals are written in the patient’s care plan so that nurses as well as other health professionals caring for the patient have access to it.
Implementation Nursing care is implemented according to the care plan, so continuity of care for the patient during hospitalization and in preparation for discharge needs to be assured. Care is documented in the patient’s record.
Evaluation Both the patient’s status and the effectiveness of the nursing care must be continuously evaluated, and the care plan modified as needed.
The nursing process is something often discussed in nursing theory. Most nurses use the nursing process without realizing it is a part of their careers. That is, it comes as second nature to them rather than thinking out each step as they take it. If you’re just beginning to learn about nursing and nursing theory , understanding the nursing process can help you gain a deeper appreciation for how nurses care for their patients, as well as better prepare you to implement the process into your own nursing process.
The nursing process is a set of steps followed by nurses in order to care for patients. How a particular nurse uses the nursing process varies based on the nurse, the patient, and the situation, but the process generally follows the same steps: assessment, diagnosis, plan, implementation, evaluation.
The first step, assessment, is used to get the patient’s history, as well as a list of symptoms or complaints. Using the information gathered in the assessment, the nurse and other health care professionals can form a diagnosis. The diagnosis is the determination of what’s wrong with the patient, if anything. The assessment and diagnosis allow the nurse to develop a nursing care plan, which is a plan of action for how to care for the patient. This step includes goals set by both the nurse and patient, and determining how best to meet those goals. The implementation sets the nursing care plan in motion in order to meet the patient’s goals.
Finally, the patient is evaluated by the nurse to show whether or not goals were met. Evaluation may be done during the implementation phase in order to make changes to the nursing care plan as needed. For example, if the patient gets worse, he or she may need to be reassessed to come up with a different diagnosis and plan of action. The nurse may also be evaluated at this point to determine how he or she cared for the patient.
The nursing process is used to regulate patient care and how nurses interact with patients. By following a particular set of steps in the nursing process, a nurse knows exactly what to do to care for a patient and what comes next.
The nursing process also allows nurses to keep better track of patient care in terms of record-keeping. As a nurse is writing up notes about a patient, he or she can mentally go through the nursing process and make notes about each step. This will help ensure that the nurse does not forget a step or notes about an aspect of patient care, and the rest of a patient’s health care team will be able to follow the process the nurse used, as well.
Some nursing models deal directly with the nursing process. That is, these theories guide nurses in how to treat patients from assessment through evaluation. Other nursing theories give a modified version of the nursing process, adapting them to fit the model of nursing. However, there are also nursing theories that don’t apply to the nursing process. These theories may only apply to a specific aspect of nursing, such as assessment, rather than the nursing process as a whole.
The nursing process can be a confusing concept for nursing students to grasp. Below is an example of the process from start to finish in a story like fashion:
In this NCLEX guide , we’ll help you review and prepare for prioritization, delegation, and assignment in your nursing exams. For this nursing test bank , improve your prioritization, delegation , and patient assignment skills by exercising with these practice questions. We will also be teaching you test-taking tips and strategies so you can tackle these questions in the NCLEX with ease. The goal of these practice quizzes and reviewers is to help student nurses establish a foundation of knowledge and skills on prioritization, delegation, and assignment.
Quiz Guidelines
Before you start, here are some examination guidelines and reminders you must read:
This section contains the practice questions to exercise your knowledge on nursing prioritization, delegation, and assignment. As with other quizzes, be sure to read and understand the question carefully. For prioritization, delegation, and assignment questions, read each choice carefully before deciding on your answer. Good luck and answer these questions at your own pace. You are here to learn.
Quizzes included in this guide are:
Quiz No. | Quiz Title | Questions |
---|---|---|
1 | 25 | |
2 | 25 | |
3 | 25 | |
4 | 25 |
This is your guide to help you answer NCLEX priority, delegation, and assignment style questions.
Here are six tips and strategies to help you ace NCLEX questions about delegation, assignment, and prioritization.
Do not make decisions concerning the management of care issues based on resolutions you may have witnessed during your clinical experience in the hospital or clinic setting. As a student nurse , you are constantly reminded that NCLEX questions are to be solved and responded to in the context of “Ivory Tower Nursing.” That is, if you only had one patient at a time, loads of assistive personnel, countless supplies, and equipment. This is what people mean when they refer to “ textbook nursing .” But when you’re in the real world without the time and resources, you adjust. Your clinical rotation in management may have been less than ideal but remember that in NCLEX, the answers to the questions are seen in nursing textbooks or journals. Always bear in mind, “Is this textbook nursing care?”
Throughout your nursing education , you learned that assessments, nursing diagnosis , establishing expected outcomes, evaluating care and any other tasks and aspects of care including but not limited to those that entail sterile technique, critical thinking, professional judgment, and professional knowledge are the responsibilities of the registered professional nurse. You cannot give these responsibilities to nonprofessional, unlicensed assistive nursing personnel, such as nursing assistants, patient care technicians, and personal care aides.
Delegate activities for stable patients because some of these needs are relatively predictable and more frequently encountered. These are somewhat routinized and without the need for high levels of professional judgment and skill. But if the patient is unstable, the needs are acute and become unpredictable, ever-changing, and rarely encountered based on the patient’s changing status. These needs should not be delegated.
Delegate activities that involve standard, consistent, and unchanged systems and procedures. The care of a patient with chest tubes and chest drainage can be delegated to either another RN or a licensed practical nurse. Therefore, the authorizing RN must ensure that the nurse is qualified, skilled, and competent to perform this intricate task, observe the patient’s response to this treatment, and ensure that the equipment is operating suitably and accurately.
The care of a stable chronically ill patient who is comparatively stable and more anticipated than a seriously ill and unstable acute patient can be assigned to the licensed practical nurse, and assistance with the activities of daily living and basic hygiene and comfort care can be assigned and delegated to an unlicensed assistive staff member like a nursing assistant or a patient care technician. Activities that frequently occur in daily patient care can be delegated. Bathing, feeding , dressing , and transferring patients are examples.
Procedures that are complex or complicated should not be delegated, especially if the patient is highly unstable.
Recall and understand Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs , the ABCs (Airway, Breathing, Circulation ), and stable versus unstable. It is necessary to know and understand the priorities when deciding which patient the RN should attend to first. Remember that you can see only one patient or perform one activity when answering questions that require you to establish priorities.
Always keep in mind that improper and inappropriate assignments can lead to inadequate quality of care, unexpected care outcomes, the jeopardization of client safety, and even legal consequences. Right assignment of care to others, including nursing assistants, licensed practical nurses, and other registered nurses, is certainly one of the most significant daily decisions nurses make.
Prioritization is deciding which needs or problems require immediate action and which ones could be delayed until later because they are not urgent. In the NCLEX, you will encounter questions that require you to use the skill of prioritizing nursing actions. These nursing prioritization questions are often presented using the multiple-choice format or via ordered-response format. For a review, in an ordered-response question format , you’ll be asked to use the computer mouse to drag and drop your nursing actions in order or priority. Based on the information presented, determine what you’ll do first, second, third, and so forth. Directions are provided with the question. To help you answer nursing prioritization questions, remember the three principles commonly used:
Patients with obvious respiratory problems or interventions to provide airway management are given priority.
Use Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as a guide to prioritize by determining the order of priority by addressing the physiological needs first.
There are five different levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs:
The nursing process is a systematic approach to assess and give care to patients. Assessment should always be done first before planning or providing interventions.
Delegation is the transference of responsibility and authority for an activity to other health care members who are competent to do so. The “delegate” assumes responsibility for the actual performance of the task and procedure. The nurse (delegator) maintains accountability for the decision to delegate and for the appropriateness of nursing care rendered to the patient. The role of a registered nurse also includes delegating care, assigning tasks, organizing and managing care, supervising care delivered by other health care providers while effectively managing time! The NCLEX includes questions related to this unique nursing role of delegation.
The following are the five rights of delegation in nursing:
Recommended books and resources for your NCLEX success:
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Saunders Comprehensive Review for the NCLEX-RN Saunders Comprehensive Review for the NCLEX-RN Examination is often referred to as the best nursing exam review book ever. More than 5,700 practice questions are available in the text. Detailed test-taking strategies are provided for each question, with hints for analyzing and uncovering the correct answer option.
Strategies for Student Success on the Next Generation NCLEX® (NGN) Test Items Next Generation NCLEX®-style practice questions of all types are illustrated through stand-alone case studies and unfolding case studies. NCSBN Clinical Judgment Measurement Model (NCJMM) is included throughout with case scenarios that integrate the six clinical judgment cognitive skills.
Saunders Q & A Review for the NCLEX-RN® Examination This edition contains over 6,000 practice questions with each question containing a test-taking strategy and justifications for correct and incorrect answers to enhance review. Questions are organized according to the most recent NCLEX-RN test blueprint Client Needs and Integrated Processes. Questions are written at higher cognitive levels (applying, analyzing, synthesizing, evaluating, and creating) than those on the test itself.
NCLEX-RN Prep Plus by Kaplan The NCLEX-RN Prep Plus from Kaplan employs expert critical thinking techniques and targeted sample questions. This edition identifies seven types of NGN questions and explains in detail how to approach and answer each type. In addition, it provides 10 critical thinking pathways for analyzing exam questions.
Illustrated Study Guide for the NCLEX-RN® Exam The 10th edition of the Illustrated Study Guide for the NCLEX-RN Exam, 10th Edition. This study guide gives you a robust, visual, less-intimidating way to remember key facts. 2,500 review questions are now included on the Evolve companion website. 25 additional illustrations and mnemonics make the book more appealing than ever.
NCLEX RN Examination Prep Flashcards (2023 Edition) NCLEX RN Exam Review FlashCards Study Guide with Practice Test Questions [Full-Color Cards] from Test Prep Books. These flashcards are ready for use, allowing you to begin studying immediately. Each flash card is color-coded for easy subject identification.
An investment in knowledge pays the best interest. Keep up the pace and continue learning with these practice quizzes:
Very helpful. A LPN graduate who has taken the nclex four times. It gives me a quick overview. Thanks
Love it!!! These made me think. They up there with ReMar and uWorld.
Very helpful thanks
In which order will the nurse perform the following actions as she prepares to leave the room of a client with airborne precautions after performing oral suctioning?
please your order for this question is wrong
I have learned a lot from the NursesLabs. Love it!
Nurse Pietro receives an 11-month old child with a fracture of the left femur on the pediatric unit. Which action is important for the nurse to take FIRST? First- Speak with parents as to how injury occurred??? Yes, this is going to take place but this the first thing to do? Perhaps the wording needs to change as I have been “textbook” taught, treat first, then question in cases of suspected abuse.
good questions which test your analyzing and critical thinking skils
Thank you for making this free. It is my additional resources. This has been very helpful. I really appreciate that you are helping all future nurses to be at their best .
I’m really grateful for this excercise which aids in preparing for the NCLEX. Thanks
This has help me pass my nclex !! Thanks
I am interested to join nurseslab daily question
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Nursing admission assessment and examination.
Tammy J. Toney-Butler ; Wendy J. Unison-Pace .
Last Update: August 28, 2023 .
The initial nursing assessment, the first step in the five steps of the nursing process, involves the systematic and continuous collection of data; sorting, analyzing, and organizing that data; and the documentation and communication of the data collected. Critical thinking skills applied during the nursing process provide a decision-making framework to develop and guide a plan of care for the patient incorporating evidence-based practice concepts. This concept of precision education to tailor care based on an individual's unique cultural, spiritual, and physical needs, rather than a trial by error, one size fits all approach results in a more favorable outcome. [1] [2] [3]
The nursing assessment includes gathering information concerning the patient's individual physiological, psychological, sociological, and spiritual needs. It is the first step in the successful evaluation of a patient. Subjective and objective data collection are an integral part of this process. Part of the assessment includes data collection by obtaining vital signs such as temperature, respiratory rate, heart rate, blood pressure, and pain level using an age or condition appropriate pain scale. The assessment identifies current and future care needs of the patient by allowing the formation of a nursing diagnosis. The nurse recognizes normal and abnormal patient physiology and helps prioritize interventions and care. [4] [5]
Nursing Process
The function of the initial nursing assessment is to identify the assessment parameters and responsibilities needed to plan and deliver appropriate, individualized care to the patient. [6] [7] [8] [9]
This includes documenting:
The nurse should strive to complete:
Summary Nursing Admission Assessment
Physical Exam
Initial Assessment [10] [11] [12]
Steps in Evaluating a New Patient
Which provides the diagnosis most often: history, physical, or diagnostic tests?
History Taking Techniques
Record chief complaint
History of the present illness, presence of pain
P-Q-R-S-T Tool to Evaluate Pain
S-A-M-P-L-E
Pain Assessment
Pain, or the fifth vital sign, is a crucial component in providing the appropriate care to the patient. Pain assessment may be subjective and difficult to measure. Pain is anything the patient or client states that it is to them. As nurses, you should be aware of the many factors that can influence the patient's pain. Systematic pain assessment, measurement, and reassessment enhance the ability to keep the patient comfortable. Pain scales that are age appropriate assist in the concise measurement and communication of pain among providers. Improvement of communication regarding pain assessment and reassessment during admission and discharge processes facilitate pain management, thus enhancing overall function and quality of life in a trickle-down fashion.
According to one performance and improvement outpatient project in 2017, areas for improvement in pain reassessment policies and procedures were identified in a clinic setting. The study concluded compliance rates for the 30-minute time requirement outlined in the clinic policy for pain reassessment were found to be low. Heavy patient load, staff memory rather than documentation, and a lack of standardized procedures in the electronic health record (EHR) design played a role in low compliance with the reassessment of pain. Barriers to pain assessment and reassessment are important benchmarks in quality improvement projects. Key performance indicators (KPIs) to improve pain management goals and overall patient satisfaction, balanced with the challenges of an opioid crisis and oversedation risks, all play a role in future research studies and quality of care projects. Recognition of indicators of pain and comprehensive knowledge in pain assessment will guide care and pain management protocols.
Indicators of Pain
Psychosocial Assessment
The primary consideration is the health and emotional needs of the patient. Assessment of cognitive function, checking for hallucinations and delusions, evaluating concentration levels, and inquiring into interests and level of activity constitute a mental or emotional health assessment. Asking about how the client feels and their response to those feelings is part of a psychological assessment. Are they agitated, irritable, speaking in loud vocal tones, demanding, depressed, suicidal, unable to talk, have a flat affect, crying, overwhelmed, or are there any signs of substance abuse? The psychological examination may include perceptions, whether justifiable or not, on the part of the patient or client. Religion and cultural beliefs are critical areas to consider. Screening for delirium is essential because symptoms are often subtle and easily overlooked, or explained away as fatigue or depression.
Safety Assessment
Therapeutic Communication Techniques Used to Take a Good History
Multiple strategies are employed that will include:
What are examples?
Cultural Assessment
The cultural competency assessment will identify factors that may impede the implementation of nursing diagnosis and care. Information obtained should include:
Physical Examination Techniques
Initial evaluation or the general survey may include:
Secondary Assessment
Auscultation
What are important things to remember about the physical exam?
Diagnostic Studies
Driven by findings on the history and physical examination; options include:
Discharge Planning
Often the initial history and physical examination lead to the identification of life- or limb-threatening conditions that can be stabilized promptly, ensuring better patient outcomes. The sooner the patient is correctly assessed, the more likely a life-altering condition is recognizable, nursing diagnosis formulated, appropriate intervention or treatment initiated, and stabilizing care rendered. Physiological abnormalities manifested by changes in vital signs and level of consciousness often provide early warning signs that patient condition is deteriorating; thus, requiring prompt intervention to forego an adverse outcome, decreasing morbidity and mortality risk. In the fast-paced, resource-challenged healthcare environment today, thorough assessment can pose a challenge for the healthcare provider but is essential to safe, quality care. The importance of a head-to-toe assessment, critical thinking skills guided by research, and therapeutic communication are the mainstays of safe practice. [13] [14] [15]
Assessment findings that include current vital signs, lab values, changes in condition such as decreased urine output, cardiac rhythm, pain level, and mental status, as well as pertinent medical history with recommendations for care, are communicated to the provider by the nurse. Communicating in a concise, efficient manner in rapidly changing situations and deteriorating patient conditions can promote quick solutions during difficult circumstances. Healthcare providers communicate and share in the decision-making process. The SBAR model facilitates this communication between members of the healthcare team and bridges the gap between a narrative, descriptive approach and one armed with exact details.
Communication using the SBAR Model
Assessment Tools
Disclosure: Tammy Toney-Butler declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.
Disclosure: Wendy Unison-Pace declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.
This book is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ), which permits others to distribute the work, provided that the article is not altered or used commercially. You are not required to obtain permission to distribute this article, provided that you credit the author and journal.
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Authored by.
Donna D. Ignatavicius , MS, RN, CNE, CNEcl, ANEF, FAADN
Linda Silvestri , PhD, RN, FAAN
The nursing process has been used for over 50 years as the systematic, stepwise method for problem solving to make safe, client-centered clinical decisions. Originally, there were four nursing process steps, published in the late 1960s. These were:
In the early 1970s, the North American Nursing Diagnosis Association (NANDA, currently called NANDA-I) was formed to develop a common language to identify standardized nursing diagnoses based on a nurse’s interpretation of assessment data. As a nurse educator, you likely include this additional step of Diagnosis as part of the nursing process, referred to as ADPIE:
Using a problem-solving approach as a basis for nursing practice requires the use of critical thinking and decision-making. Some experts have referred to that thinking more recently as clinical reasoning. The 2020 NCLEX-RN® Test Plan identifies the nursing process as one of five integrated processes which is defined as “a scientific, clinical reasoning approach to client care that includes assessment, analysis, planning, implementation, and evaluation” (NCSBN, 2019, p.5). Note that this definition does not include Diagnosis; rather the second step of the nursing process is labeled as Analysis.
The NCLEX-RN® and NCLEX-PN® do not measure the nursing graduate’s knowledge of nursing diagnoses (NDs) because NDs are not universally used as originally intended as a standardized language, even in the United States where the NANDA nursing diagnosis list began. Yet many faculty continue to teach the nursing process as a five-step ADPIE approach.
While the nursing process has been taught in prelicensure programs for many years, nurses continue to make serious errors in practice, including failure-to-rescue clinical situations that sometimes result in sentinel events. Based on these errors and employer dissatisfaction with the clinical-decision ability of new graduates, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) developed a model of clinical judgment that is built on and expands the nursing process. Officially entitled the NCSBN Clinical Judgment Measurement Model (NCJMM), this evidence-based model identifies six cognitive skills needed to make appropriate clinical judgments. These skills include:
The NCJMM will be the basis for the Next-Generation NCLEX-RN and NCLEX-PN (NGN) new test items that will be presented most often in an unfolding case format . These cases will present clinical situations in which the test candidate will need to use clinical judgment skills to answer questions about how to manage the presented client’s care.
If you are teaching in a state, province, or territory in which the nursing process is required as a regulation for prelicensure nursing education, follow these guidelines to help transition from the nursing process to clinical judgment:
As you and your students transition from the nursing process to clinical judgment, remember that clinical judgment is more closely aligned with how nurses in practice actually think to make the best possible decisions about client care. Also recall that clinical judgment in nursing is not a new concept. For example, Tanner, the National League for Nursing, and others have posited for almost 15 years that clinical judgment is a better problem-solving approach than the nursing process.
The NCJMM cognitive skills can be aligned with the nursing process steps and phases of Tanner’s clinical judgment model as illustrated below:
Comparison of the Nursing Process with Tanner’s Clinical Judgment Model and the NCSBN Clinical Judgment Measurement Model (NCJMM)
Assessment | Noticing | Recognize Cues |
Diagnosis/Analysis | Interpreting | Analyze Cues |
Diagnosis/Analysis | Interpreting | Prioritize Hypotheses |
Planning | Responding | Generate Solutions |
Implementation | Responding | Take Action |
Evaluation | Reflecting | Evaluate Outcomes |
While these models may look very similar, the thinking processes differ. For example, in the Assessment step of the nursing process, the nurse collects subjective and objective client data using a systematic approach. By contrast, the Recognize Cues cognitive skill of clinical judgement requires the nurse to collect client data and then decide “What matters most?”—which client data (findings) are relevant in a specific contextual clinical situation and which data are not relevant? Two other examples comparing the nursing process steps and the cognitive skills of the NCJMM are described below:
: The nurse identifies the actual and potential client problem(s) based on review and interpretation of the client data. | : The nurse reviews the client data and determines what they mean. For example, the nurse may identify certain data that are consistent with common diseases or disorders. Or, the nurse may identify potential complications for which the client is at risk based on the assessment data. |
The nurse performs appropriate interventions to meet the desired client outcomes. For example, if the client reports acute postoperative ORIF pain of 8/10, the nurse might administer an analgesic. | : The nurse performs an action which could be an intervention or an assessment. For example, if a client reports acute postoperative ORIF pain of 8/10, the nurse might perform a neurovascular assessment of the extremity to determine if the pain is due to decreased peripheral perfusion or the surgical incision. While that action is an assessment, it is also an action or intervention. |
As you begin or continue making the transition of building on the nursing process to emphasize clinical judgment in your program, remember that clinical judgment will be the focus of the new test item types for the NGN by no sooner than 2023. You still have time to begin the transition journey, but we suggest that you start it soon! More NGN resources are available on www.ncsbn.org and the Elsevier Evolve Faculty Resources webpage.
Reference :
National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN). (2018). NCLEX-RN® Examination: Test plan for the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses. Chicago, IL: Author.
Test webinar, nln 2024 – national league for nursing summit 2024 , southern university at new orleans launches bsn program with elsevier 360.
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