One step at a time. Introducing the nursing process to the operating department

In 1987 I was a part-time theatre sister on night duty and had just completed the Open University Course 'A Systematic Approach to Nursing Care'. Being fired with enthusiasm, I decided to introduce this exciting concept to our operating department. I realised that the task ahead would not be an easy one because a part-time night sister is not in a key position to initiate major change. After a great deal of thought, I came to the conclusion that it would be better to take one step at a time by introducing pre-operative visiting (the assessment stage) before embarking on care planning and evaluation.