Non-application of the nursing process at a hospital in Accra, Ghana: lessons from descriptive research.

Registered nurses are taught the nursing process; and they are expected to implement the acquired knowledge in the clinical area. The failure of nurses to practise the expected standard of care results in their relying on the decision of other health-care professionals, such as doctors. This makes registered nurses appear to be assistants to doctors. We, therefore, conclude that nurse leaders must supervise nurses to put into practice what they were taught during their training; so that they can have professional autonomy in their practice as nurses. It is also suggested that nurses must show evidence of using the nursing process in their daily work by the use of the nursing care-plan form.