Nursing process: the science of nursing in the curriculum

In conveying the nature of nursing science to our future scholars, faculty members must clearly define the role and function of the problem-solving process and its variations in nursing science as used at each level of the curricula. Although they have some common characteristics, the nursing process, clinical inquiry process, and research process also have distinct and unique characteristics. Assuming a common understanding of the undergraduate nursing process and the postgraduate research process, the purpose of this article is 1) to focus on defining a masters-level prototype of the baccalaureate-level nursing process and nursing care plan, 2) distinguish it from the research process, and 3) to share some experiences in using the prototype with graduate students.