Knowledge, practices and factors affecting in application of nursing process: A cross-sectional study

Background: The nursing process is an important tool that has transformed the standards of nursing practices. Application of the nursing process required proper training, guidelines and resources to be used by the nurses. Aim: The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge and practice of nursing process among nurses and explore factors influencing its applications by nurses. Methods: An exploratory, descriptive study was conducted among 210 nurses using a simple random sampling technique. A pre-designed, self-structured questionnaire on knowledge and practice of nurses regarding nursing process and factors influencing its application were used to collect data. The data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: Most of the nurses were female (60.5%), had General Nursing and Midwifery (76.2%) as professional education, working in general medicine units (52.5%) and had more than 5 years of professional experience. The mean knowledge and practice score regarding nursing process were 13.93 ± 5.204 and 6.51 ± 0.96, respectively. Major hindering factors were the absence of a format for recording nursing process, poor nurse–patient ratio and excessive workload and never attended in-service education on the nursing process. Many nurses reported working in a stressful environment and were dissatisfied due to excessive clerical paperwork. Conclusion: The majority of nurses had average knowledge of nursing process, but they were not practicing. Certain factors such as no format, in-service education and equipment supplies affected the nursing process application in clinical areas. Hence, it is recommended to modify the above factors for proper application of nursing process.