INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Nursing process is fundamentally both a humanistic and an

intellectual activity in which the nurse gathers information from a variety

of sources and test against personal and professional knowledge to

make sense of communication with people who are in various state of

health and illness (Ajibade 2007).

Nursing is focused more on health problems or specific disease

conditions than on person receiving care. Often nursing care was based

on the intuition of individual nurses or on order written by physician

(Ajibade 2007).

Ajibade suggested that nurses were extension of physicians rather

than health professional providing a different service called nursing. as

knowledge based of nursing expanded it became clear that this

approach to planning care did not view persons as holistic beings with

unique transition method of planning care omitted the purpose solving

method of science that the scientific method was adopted as a

systematic approach to nursing practice. It was this approach that

heralded the advent of nursing process.

According to (WHO 2006) nursing process is an organized

sequence of problem solving steps used to identify and to manage the

health problem of clients. it is accepted for clinical practice established

by the American Nurses Association. Suffice it to say nursing process is

the pride of the nursing profession. Nursing process is therefore an

orderly systematic manner of determining the clients problem making

plan to solve them initiating a plan or assigning others to implement the

plan and evaluating the extent to which plan was effective in solving the

problem identify (Yura and Walsh 1978).

Nursing process therefore is an organized systematic methods of

giving individualized nursing care that focuses on the actual or potential

alternations in health. So nursing process is a set of deliberate activities

that the nurse should perform in a specific sequence to ensure that

persons who require health care received the best nursing care (Ajibade

2007)

The phases of nursing process or elements of nursing process

according to Umanitoba (2005) are five. These include assessment

diagnosis planning implementation and evaluation.

In many Nigerian Hospitals the implementation of the nursing

process by nurse clinicians leaves much to be desired.

Anyebe (1998) asserted that the implementation of nursing

process in health institution has been rather slow and its acceptance by

nurse practitioners is resisted at worst and haphazardly implemented at

best. the drive to this study stems from the fact that nurses maintains

that care is at the care of nursing practice (Walsh 2002).

The nursing process helps the nurse to achieve this goal. Nursing

process is an adaptable tool which allows only the nurse to respond to

the changing needs of patients by focusing less on medical emphasis of

disease care and more on holistic of patient health promotion

maintenance and restoration.

Although the nursing process has been criticized and in some

cases replaced by other tools for accountability and documentation it

has remained the most contemporary in nursing circles the world over.

It is a standard against which professionalism in nursing is measured.

Fond and Walsh (1994) and Walsh (1998) cited in Welsh (2002)

maintained that the concept of nursing process is cumbersome. They

suggested its prompt replacement with “critical pathway” reason being

that it heralds a less cumbersome and more quality oriented approach.

Critical pathway from a nursing perspective is a planned care for a

client/patients involving all the activities or care to be rendered. Only

the care which was not critically included in the patients care is written

down. It can however be criticized for its empirical view of patients with

the same disease condition which seriously undermines the concepts of

holistic and individualized care.

Jibril (2005) asserted that there is no hospital in Nigeria where

nursing process is fully implemented. With these antecedents there is

no gain saying that the challenges of the utilization of nursing process

the world over is the bane of professional nursing care to clients

patients families and communities.

In Kaduna state health institution (hospitals) General Hospital

Saminaka inclusive the care is worsened by nurse/patient ratio where

you have about 30 – 40 patient to a nurse in a shift. It was also observe

implementation of nursing process is largely a classroom exercise and at

best utilized by students seeking to improve their practical knowledge in

preparation for examination. In this hospital there are no student

nurses in training reforms if available in the ward only during routine

inspection by regulatory bodies otherwise they remain covered with dust

in the store. In General Hospital Saminaka pose a great challenge that

made this research desirable.

The professional inputs of a nurse will enable a patient to be

discharged on time or enjoy the dying process if the illness will

eventually lead to death (Moronkola 1995).

The use of nursing process will enhance a complete care for the

patient family members. Awonusi (2005) opined that the nurses are key

elements for global health. Policy implementation to meet the needs of

health for all in the 21st century. The nursing contribution to health

services covers the whole spectrum of health care promotion and

prevention as well as health research implementation and innovations.

This opinion follows global trends of information technology where nurse

clinicians are equipped with information and communication technology

(I.C.T.) skills in the implementation of nursing process. The researcher

observed that several of our health care yet to make use of nursing

process.

Statement of the Problem

Nursing process was introduced to enhance the level of health care

delivery by nurses. In other to achieve the objective for which it was

developed certain guidelines and activities have been given. Despite

the introduction of nursing process it application is hardly noticed in

most hospitals especially at Saminaka General Hospital.

Nursing process is supposed to help nurses attain their goals by

enabling a patient to be discharged on time or enjoy the dying process if

the illness will eventually lead to death. The use of nursing process will

enhance a complete care for the patient family members. The

seemingly non implementation of the nursing process is therefore a

problem which the study sought to investigate. The problem of the

study therefore is ineffective outcome of the nursing process in

Saminaka General Hospital.

Purpose of the Study

The broad objective of this research study was assessment of the

implementation of nursing process in General Hospital Saminaka.

Specifically the study seeks to:

1) Determine nurses level of knowledge of nursing process

2) Determine nurses utilization of nursing process

3) Determine factors militating against utilization of nursing process

4) Determine nurses perception of nursing process

Significance of the Study

At the end of the study the researcher hopes that the result of this

study will be significantly used as baseline data to determine

implementation of nursing process by all nurses.

It is hoped that patient will receive adequate nursing care through

proper planning implementation evaluation in patient care and

documentation.

And also its significant is on the hope that funding will be made to

assist in solving problem that contribute to non implementation of

nursing process by nurses in General Hospital Saminaka Kaduna state

and beyond through the policy formulations and policy implementation

of health care delivery.

Research Questions

1) What is the level of knowledge on nursing process by nurses in

General Hospital Saminaka?

2) What is the nurses utilization of nursing process by nurses in

Saminaka General Hospital?

3) What is the perception of nursing process by nurses in Saminaka

General Hospital?

4) What are the factors militating against utilization of nursing

process.

Scope of the Study

The scope of the study is delimited to the nursing process as an

aspect of the nursing profession only.