Investigation of information level of senior nursing students regarding nursing process

The aim of the study: This descriptive study aims to determine the information level of senior nursing students regarding nursing process.Subjects and method: The universe of the study includes all students at the last year of high education institutions offering graduate training in nursing in the academic year of 2008?2009 and the sample consists of 380 senior students at the oldest nursing schools in 7 geographical regions of Turkey. Data were collected by the investigator using `Nursing process data Collection Form? prepared by the investigator based upon the literature. Form includes 39 questions.In the evaluation of the data, number and percentage, normal distribution test, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests were used.Results: It was established that of the students included in the study, 44.5% graduated from normal high schools, 21.1% worked as nurses, 96.3% used nursing process in practice, 88.4% considered nursing process beneficial for professional development and 60% experienced problems in various stages of the process. Mean number of correct answers to the questions regarding nursing process was 18±3.76. No statistically significant relation was found between mean scores of correct answers and the type of high school graduated from, working as a nurse, using nursing practice in clinical practice, and the status of experiencing problems while using nursing process (p>0.05). Mean correct answer scores of students at School of Nursing were higher than students at School of Health, with a statistically significant difference (p<0.05). Mean correct answer scores of students who experienced problems during the data collection stage of nursing process were lower than students who did not experience such problems (p<0.05).Conclusion: The information level of senior nursing students on nursing process is not at the desired level.Key words: Nursing Student, nursing process, care plan.