Term	Definition
Nursing process	A deliberate problem-solving approach for meeting people’s health care and nursing needs; common components are assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation
Assessment	The systematic collection of data to determine the patient’s health status and any actual or potential health problems
Nursing diagnoses	Actual or potential health problems that can be managed by independent nursing interventions
Planning	Development of goals and outcomes, as well as a plan of care designed to assist the patient in resolving the diagnosed problems and achieving the identified goals and desired outcomes
Implementation	Actualization or carrying out of the plan of care through nursing interventions
Evaluation	Determination of the patient’s responses to the nursing interventions and the extent to which the outcomes have been achieved.
Nursing process implemented	Hospitals that document all the components of nursing process in the patient file