The Nursing Process. The desire to develop nursing as a discipline that was distinct from- and yet still aligned to- the medical sciences brought forth a plethora of theories and scholarly texts that defined nursing practice in terms of concepts and theories. As nursing sought to gain legitimacy as a profession, there was an imperative to assert its academic credentials (XxXxxx 2011) and to articulate a distinct theoretical framework for practice that would prevent nursing from being exposed to external control (XxxXxxxxx 1995). Thus, nursing theories and models of care were intended to guide practice, curriculum design and research that would support the future development of professional nursing knowledge. Originating in the US, an era of nursing scholarship that had begun in the late 1950’s, gained momentum in both the US and UK during the 1960’s and 70’s. In an examination of the British Nursing press during this time, De La Cuesta (1998) found that there was a growing discontent and internal debate about the existing system of care delivery that was criticised as being task-orientated, non- individualistic and the cause of low levels of job satisfaction. Some of the nursing theories that emerged were adapted from those already in use within the medical profession, The most notable of these was the application of the scientific method of nursing that was developed by Xxx Xxxx Xxxxxxx; later to become known as The Nursing Process (Orlando 1961). This process built upon the diagnostic procedures used by Doctors and described a series of steps that create a systematic plan of care for each individual patient. The care plan created would be based upon the nursing care needs of the patient rather than focusing on the diagnosis and treatment of a medical condition. Orlando suggested that doctor’s orders were “for the patient, and not for the nurse”; that nurses should be creating their own individualised nursing care plans which would be documented separately from the medical notes (ibid). The nursing process consisted of 4 steps: Assessment; Planning; Implementation; Evaluation and were presented as a continuous cycle (see Figure 2-1). The nursing process was embraced as an educational tool initially, but became a framework for practice by the 1970’s. An explanation for this shift appears to have come about due to nurses in the US and UK being encouraged to undertake post qualification training. In these training courses, nurses were exposed to the concept of applying this new ...
