The effects of applying an assessment form based on the health functional patterns on nursing student's attitude and skills in developing the nursing process

OBJECTIVES: Comprehensive nursing assessment, as the first step in the nursing process, involves the systematic and constant data gathering to facilitate the development of the patient-specific nursing process. The aim of this study is to determine the effects of applying an assessment form based on the health functional patterns on nursing student's attitude and skills in developing nursing process. METHODS: A randomized controlling design was conducted. Of 84 undergraduate nursing students, 42 students were allocated to the intervention or control group. In clinical education, a patient assessment form based on Gordon's functional health patterns was applied to help students in the intervention group to develop nursing process, while the control group received traditional methods. The data were gathered using a demographic information questionnaire, skills in nursing process development checklist, and attitudes towards nursing process questionnaire. RESULTS: The average scores for students’ attitude and skills in developing nursing process in the intervention group were greater than those of the control group. CONCLUSION: Applying nursing assessment using the patient assessment form based on Gordon's functional health patterns can improve the students' learning in developing nursing process.