4 1. 9 Critical thinking, nursing process and Clinical Judgement in Nursing Pracitce

When we are thinking about nursing process, it may be helpful to look at this whole process as a tree. The roots are knowledge you already have in your journey to your nursing classes. It includes the science : things like biology, physiology, anatomy and chemistry. The roots are also combined from your experience, your attitudes, professional guidelines, facility policies and procedures as well as professional evidence based practice and standards. The tree trunk is the nursing process: assessment, analysis (or diagnosis), planning, implementation and evaluation. The branches are the nursing diagnosis or problem statements which are usually one of the categories of: acute and at risk problems or health promotion. Also you will have your collaborative diagnosis there. The next items are the smaller twigs that lead to the leaves, our twigs will be the parts of the nursing diagnostic statement and the leaves are the individualized interventions(NICs) we put together for our clients. The fruit is a combination of the nursing outcomes (NOCs) which are measurable and time sensitive and the umbrella goals that cover the entire diagnosis with a central goal.