- The skills necessary to use the nursing process
successfully include intellectual, technical, inter-
personal, and ethical/legal skills, as well as the
willingness to use these skills creatively when
working with patients.
4.Sample answers:
a.Systematic: Each nursing task is a part of an
ordered sequence of activities, and each activity
depends on the accuracy of the activity that pre-
cedes it and influences the actions that follow it.
b.Dynamic: There is great interaction and
overlapping among the five steps; no one step
in the process is a one-time phenomenon; each
step is fluid and flows into the next step.
c. Interpersonal: The human being is always at
the heart of nursing. The nursing process
ensures that nurses are patient centered rather
than task centered.
d.Goal oriented: The nursing process offers a
means for nurses and patients to work together
to identify specific goals related to wellness pro-
motion, disease and illness prevention, health
restoration, and coping with altered functioning
that are most important to the patient and
match them with appropriate nursing actions.
e.Universally applicable: Once nurses have a
working knowledge of the nursing process, they
can apply it to well or ill patients, young or old
patients, in any type of practice setting. - a.Purpose of thinking: This helps to discipline
thinking by keeping all thoughts directed to
the goal.
b.Adequacy of knowledge: It is important to
judge whether the knowledge available to
you is accurate, complete, and relevant. If you
reason with false information or lack important
data, it is impossible to draw a sound
conclusion.
c. Potential problems: As you become more skilled
in critical thinking, you will learn to “flag” or
remedy pitfalls to sound reasoning.
d.Helpful resources: Wise professionals are quick
to recognize their limits and seek help in reme-
dying their deficiencies.
e.Critique of judgment/decision: Ultimately,
you must identify alternative judgments or
decisions, weigh their merits, and reach a
conclusion.
6.Sample answers:
a.Practice a necessary skill until you feel
confident in its execution before performing it
on a patient.
b.Take time to familiarize yourself with new equip-
ment before using it in a clinical procedure.
c. Identify nurses who are technical experts and
ask them to share their secrets.
d.Never be ashamed to seek assistance if you feel
unsure of how to perform a procedure or man-
age equipment.
Copyright © 2011 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Study Guide for Fundamentals of Nursing:
340 ANSWER KEY
efabgdc
DEVELOPING YOUR KNOWLEDGE BASE
FILL-IN-THE-BLANKS
1.Standards of practice
2.Implementing
3.Concept mapping
4.Whistle-blower
5.Medical diagnosis, nursing diagnosis, all pertinent
clinical data
MATCHING EXERCISES
1.a 2.d 3.e 4.b 5.c
6.a 7.e 8.b 9.c 10.e
11.d 12.a 13.c 14.b 15.d
16.a 17.d 18.b 19.a 20.c
21.b 22.d
SHORT ANSWER
1.Patient:
a.Scientifically based, holistic, individualized care
b.The opportunity to work collaboratively with
nurses
c. Continuity of care
Nursing:
a.Achievement of a clear and efficient plan of
action by which the entire nursing team can
achieve results for patients
b.Satisfaction that the nurse is making an impor-
tant difference in the lives of patients
c. Opportunity to grow professionally when eval-
uating the effectiveness of interventions and
variables that contribute positively or
negatively to the patient’s goal achievement
- a.Determining the need for nursing care: The
nursing process provides a framework that
enables the nurse to systematically collect
patient data and clearly identify patient
strengths and problems.
b.Planning and implementing the care: The nurs-
ing process helps the nurse and patient develop
a holistic plan of individualized care that speci-
fies both the desired patient goals and the nurs-
ing actions most likely to assist the patient to
meet those goals and execute the plan of care.
c. Evaluating the results of the nursing care: The
nursing process provides for evaluation of the
plan of care in terms of patient goal
achievement.
3.The nursing process is a systematic, patient-
centered, goal-oriented method of caring that pro-
vides a framework for nursing practice.
The goals of the nursing process are to help the
nurse manage each patient’s care scientifically,
holistically, and creatively to promote wellness,
prevent disease or illness, restore health, and facili-
tate coping with altered functioning.
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