Nursing Process (2024)

Drug therapy is a complex process that can easily lead to adverse patient events. In 2007,
the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released its report on the drug safety system, The Future
of Drug Safety: Promoting and Protecting the Health of the Public. The IOM reported that
approximately 400,000 preventable adverse drug events occurred each year in the United
States. The IOM also estimated that preventable hospital medication errors occurred at a
rate of one/patient/day and contributed to 7,000 patient deaths/year. Although much progress
has been made, problems with using medications safely remain. Medication errors are
one of the top 10 most frequently reviewed sentinel events by The Joint Commission.
Applying the nursing process (assessment, nursing diagnosis, planning, intervention, and
evaluation) during drug therapy enables the nurse to systematically identify the drug therapy
needs of each patient, thereby reducing the number of adverse events and providing
safe patient care.

Nursing process stepKey points
Assessment
  • Collect data—subjective and objective
    • Current/previous health status
    • Cultural considerations
    • Lab values
    • Allergies
    • Physical assessment
    • Medication history
      • Prescriptions/OTC drugs
      • Herbal supplements
      • Response to medications
      • Knowledge of medications
      • Medication adherence
Nursing diagnosis/problem
  • Identify all associated nursing diagnoses.
Planning
  • Review patient allergies.
  • Review and reconcile prescribed medications.
  • Identify possible adverse effects of medications.
  • Identify potential interactions with other medications.
  • Determine route of administration.
  • Determine time of administration.
  • Develop patient education regarding medication administration.
Intervention
  • Administer medication utilizing the “eight rights”
    • Right patient
    • Right drug
    • Right dose
    • Right time
    • Right route
    • Right reason
    • Right response
    • Right documentation.
  • Use technology such as bar coding to ensure safe and correct administration.
  • Educate patient about each medication at time of administration.
Evaluation
  • Monitor patient’s response to medication.
  • Monitor for possible adverse effects of medication.
  • Monitor for unexpected effects of medication.
  • Document medication administration.
Comerford, K.C. & Durkin, M.T. (2024). Nursing2024 drug handbook. (44th edition.) Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer.
Nursing Process (2024)

FAQs

How to answer nursing process questions? ›

To answer nursing exam questions, a very common test-taking strategy is using the steps of the nursing process (ADPIE) to help you prioritize. ADPIE is an acronym for these steps, which are assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation and evaluation, and they follow this specific order.

What is the nursing process short answer? ›

The nursing process functions as a systematic guide to client-centered care with 5 sequential steps. These are assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation.

How do you memorize the nursing process? ›

ADPIE is an acronym used to remember the five consecutive steps of the nursing process, which include assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation. Ensuring all five stages of the nursing process are completed is essential in securing systematic, individualized patient care.

What are the 5 steps of problem solving in nursing process? ›

  • 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. ...
  • Diagnosis. ...
  • Outcomes / Planning. ...
  • Implementation. ...
  • Evaluation.

Is there a trick to answering NCLEX questions? ›

Look for Opposite Answers

If two of the answer choices have opposites, like increased heart rate or decreased heart rate, one of the two choices is usually the correct answer. Correctly answering NCLEX-style questions requires familiarity with all the types of questions you may see on the exam, says Ross.

What words are bolded on NCLEX? ›

Does the NCLEX bold key words in items? Yes, the NCLEX bolds key words such as best, most, essential, first, priority, immediately, highest, initial, next, refute, increased, decreased and support. Does NCSBN use generic and trade names on items with medications? The NCLEX uses consistent language for every examinee.

What is a nursing process example? ›

Example: A new patient is admitted to the unit. The nurse obtains the patient's blood pressure, heart rate, respiration rate, temperature, and oxygen saturation. The nurse performs a head-to-toe assessment and gauges the patient's pain level. The nurse documents this information.

What is the major purpose of the nursing process? ›

The nursing process is a systematic problem-solving approach used to identify, prevent and treat actual or potential health problems and promote wellness. It has five steps; Assessment, Diagnosis, planning, implementation and evaluation [5].

Why use the nursing process? ›

The following are the purposes of the nursing process: To identify the client's health status and actual or potential health care problems or needs (through assessment). To establish plans to meet the identified needs. To deliver specific nursing interventions to meet those needs.

What is the most important step in the nursing process? ›

The assessment phase is a critical component of the nursing process. Information gathered in this phase is used to establish a foundation upon which all patient care moving forward is established.

Is nursing a lot of memorization? ›

While you'll definitely need to recall a wide range of information at the drop of a hat, memorization will only take you so far. Nurses must be able to put facts into action, applying critical thinking in fast-paced environments.

What do nurses have to memorize? ›

As a nurse, you'll need to know symptoms that point to different health problems, signs of adverse medication reactions, and the steps for treating various illnesses (to name a few).

What is an example of assessment in the nursing process? ›

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 medication.

How to prioritize nursing diagnosis? ›

A common data cue that nurses use to prioritize care is considering if a condition or symptom is acute or chronic. Acute conditions have a sudden and severe onset. These conditions occur due to a sudden illness or injury, and the body often has a significant response as it attempts to adapt.

What is the difference between nursing care plan and nursing process? ›

The care plan is essentially the documentation of this process. It includes within it a set of actions the nurse will apply to resolve/support nursing diagnoses identified by nursing assessment. Care plans make it possible for interventions to be recorded and their effectiveness assessed.

How to answer nursing critical thinking questions? ›

Strategies for solving critical thinking and rewording questions on the NCLEX
  1. Observation.
  2. Deciding what is important.
  3. Looking for patterns and relationships.
  4. Identifying the problem.
  5. Transferring knowledge from one situation to another.
  6. Applying knowledge.
  7. Discriminating between possible choices and/or courses of action.
Feb 8, 2022

How to answer nursing multiple choice questions? ›

STRATEGIES FOR ANSWERING MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

Read the stem once to get a general understanding of the type of question; then read the stem again (especially if it is long) to process it. easy, familiar-looking question, don't jump to the conclusion that you know what it is.

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