[Nursing process and problem-oriented documentation. The development of a measuring tool].

This paper reports on an investigation about application of the nursing process in psychiatric nursing. The main focus was the development of an instrument for measuring the nursing process. This instrument was developed on the principle of the SOAP-system. The goal of developing such an instrument was to give nurses the possibility of following the process of implementation of the nursing process on their wards. After selecting the items of the instrument, content validity and interrater reliability were determined. Analysis revealed adequate validity and reliability of the instrument. Therefore the instrument can be used in psychiatric hospitals applying the nursing process on the principle of the SOAP-system.