Nurses Job Description

by Sandy Keefe

Overview

No matter what position a nurse holds or where he works, his job description will be defined by the five components of the nursing process: assessment, nursing diagnosis, planning, implementation and evaluation.
Assessment

When she performs a nursing assessment, the nurse gathers objective and subjective information about her patient and his status.

Nursing Diagnosis

A nurse establishes nursing diagnoses that outline actual or potential problems, the evidence to support those problems, and the factor(s) that contributed to the problem(s). Nursing diagnoses specifically define problems that the nurse can address within the scope of his practice.
Planning

Based on the nursing diagnoses she's identified, the nurse will plan her nursing care with specific steps to improve outcomes for her patient.
Implementation

Implementation is the action phase of the nursing process, in which the nurse carries out the specific steps he's planned for his patient.
Evaluation

After she's carried out her action steps, the nurse compares her patient's outcomes against the original nursing diagnoses. If the nursing process is successful, the original nursing diagnoses will no longer be valid.
Significance

The nursing process works equally well for all nursing job descriptions, whether the nurse is a novice staff nurse on a medical-surgical unit or a seasoned veteran in the intensive care unit (ICU).