Factors Militating the Effective Utilization of the Nursing Process in Patient Care: A Descriptive Survey of Nurses in a Tertiary Hospital in North West, Nigeria

Nursing process is the systematic, patient-centered approach used by nurses to guides individualized nursing care; thereby enhance quality of patient care and outcomes for both the patient and family members, as an organized framework for the practice of nursing. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors militating against effective utilization of nursing process in patient's care among nurses in a Tertiary Hospital in north-west, Nigeria. The research design employed in the study was across sectional survey, sample size of 108 but 97 valid for data analysis. The nurses who were proportionately selected participated in the study. The data were derived from the administration of copies of questionnaire. The instrument was validated by the researcher’s supervisor and two other experts from faculty of nursing Ladoke Akintola University of technology. A Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient of 0.82 is indicative of the reliability of the instrument. Data collected were analysed using SPSS version 20 version. Hypothesis was tested using Chi square set at p value 0.05. The findings revealed that greater number (92%) understood that nursing process is a problem solving technique for nurses and (80, 83%) utilizes nursing process in patients care. Majority of participants 63.9% (Mean = 1.71) established that shortage of human resources, 59.8% (Mean = 1.86) lack motivation and 53.6% (Mean = 1.53) different approaches adopted by nurses were seen to impact the use negatively. Experience, and educational Level were statistically found to be significant determinants for nursing process utilization (p=0.00, and 0.02). Based on the findings, it can be concluded that there exist a significant relationship between nurse’s years of experience and knowledge of nursing process utilization and the rate of utilization. Recommendation that adequate and relevant materials be provided for nurses in order to achieve and perform their respective tasks at the optimal best, the management should equally employed more nurses to breech the chronic shortage of man power.