The treatment of illness by nursing care, without surgery.
In the nursing process, the step after planning. This step involves all aspects of actual caring for the patient and requires full knowledge of the assessment and planning stages of the nursing process. The goals of nursing intervention are stated in the planning step of the nursing process. Included in this step are patient care in the areas of hygiene and mental and physical comfort, including assistance in feeding and elimination; controlling the physical aspects of the patient’s environment; and instructing the patient about the factors important to his or her care and what actions to take to facilitate recovery. After the patient’s acute and immediate needs are met, he or she should be instructed concerning actions that could be taken to help prevent a recurrence of the condition.