Implementing the Nursing Process in Gynaecology Wards in Namibia

Since its implementation in 1985, the nursing process in Namibia – for unknown reasons – had been utilised with difficulty. The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of a programme to operationalise the nursing process in gynaecology wards in Namibia. A qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual design was used to perform this study. Seven in-depth interviews were conducted in the training hospitals in Namibia. The study was performed in four phases: a situation analysis was carried out to explore and describe the educational needs of registered nurses for internalising and operationalising the nursing process; a conceptual framework was compiled based on the results of phase 1; a programme was developed to internalise and operationalise the nursing process; and finally, guidelines were generated for the implementation of the programme. The situation analysis revealed that the nursing process had been utilised ineffectively. The findings indicated that registered nurses’ belief systems and attitudes should be reframed, that registered nurses should approach the nursing process differently and that the nursing process was a prerequisite for effective nursing care. Guidelines for internalising and operationalising the nursing process through programme implementation were described. Since guidelines are important tools in the quest for evidence-based practice (Lawson, 2005:18), the guidelines include actions and activities for professional nurses about the nursing process.