An orderly approach to administering nursing care so that the patient's needs are met comprehensively and effectively. The object of health care is to provide comprehensive care of patients. Nursing is dedicated to this concept and , from the holistic viewpoint, has formalized the processes that contribute to the prevention of illness and the restoration and maintenance of health. In so doing, the traditional approaches used in problem solving have been used. Therefore the nurse needs skills in the following five areas to provide comprehensive care of patients:

1. assessment: the systemic collection of all data relevant to the patients, their problems, and needs;

2. problem identification: the analysis and interpretation of the information obtained during assessment that establishes the nursing diagnosis;

3. planning: the determination of individualized patient-centered goals and the optimum course of action to solve the problem;

4. intervention: determination of expected patient-centered outcomes, objective methods of evaluating patient progress toward the contributory goals, and optimum courses of action to resolve the problems identified and achieve the desired results;

5. evaluation: assessment of the effectiveness of the plan in terms of measurable progress toward established nursing goals and altering the approach and goals as needed.

SEE: evaluation; nursing assessment; nursing intervention; planning; problem-oriented medical record.