Identify the five steps of the nursing process used in patient care.

• A. Assessment, Diagnosis, Planning, Implementation, Evaluation
• B. Assessment, Evaluation, Planning, Implementation, Diagnosis
• C. Diagnosis, Assessment, Planning, Implementation, Evaluation
• D. Assessment, Diagnosis, Evaluation, Implementation, Planning

Answer: (A)

The nursing process is a systematic, client-centered framework used to deliver care. It unfolds in a defined sequence: assessment collects comprehensive data about the patient; diagnosis analyzes that data to identify nursing diagnoses or problems; planning sets specific, measurable outcomes and selects appropriate interventions; implementation carries out those interventions; evaluation measures the patient’s response to care and determines if goals were met, requiring revision of the plan if needed. This flow ensures care is based on actual patient needs and allows ongoing testing and adjustment. Other sequences disrupt this logic—for example, evaluating care before it has been provided or before goals are defined would not accurately judge effectiveness, and starting with a diagnosis without data would be unfounded. The correct order is the one that builds from data collection to informed decision-making, action, and then reassessment.