This qualitative study aimed to understand the meanings attributed to the nursing process by clinical nurses at a Mexican hospital. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, participant observation and document research. Symbolic Interactionism and Grounded Theory were the theoretical and methodological frameworks for data analysis, which permitted understanding the experience and meaning nurses attributed to the nursing process in their daily care practice, which was unveiled as routine care actions, performed differently from what they had learned in school.
nursing; nursing process; nursing care