Nurses' attitudes toward nursing process as measured by the Dayton Attitude Scale

This study measured the knowledge of and attitudes toward the nursing process held by nurses who provide direct patient care. The Dayton Attitude Scale Toward Care Planning (DASC) was returned by 1,096 nurses practicing in nine hospitals. Overall, participants were knowledgeable of the nursing process and held a relatively positive attitude toward the nursing process and nursing diagnosis. Higher nursing degrees were associated with more positive attitudes. The most common barrier to the use of the nursing process was insufficient time. The study found that less than 30% of the subjects liked the way care planning was done. These findings suggest that improving care planning systems would further promote consistency in the process.