Well-defined job descriptions have always been necessary to nursing practice.In recent years, however, concepts involving "standards" and "quality assur-ance" have promoted changes in the focus of nursing practice from simply jobdescriptions to integrated systems. Nurse professionals are challenged to sethigh standards of practice, and to develop and implement techniques toachieve these standards. In response to this challenge, the material in this bookwas developed. The purpose of this book is to integrate the nursing process into standardsof practice, job descriptions, and performance evaluations, utilizing systemstheory. The main emphasis will be not only the interrelationship of these stan-dards, job descriptions, and performance evaluations, but also their relation tothe delivery of patient care. Nursing service administrators will find this book very useful in meetingthe Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospital's Nursing Service Stan-dards. Specifically, Standard II in the Accreditation Manual states:The nursing department/service shall be organized to meet the nursing care needsof patients and to maintain established standards of nursing practice.Further, this Standard requires the establishment of standards of nursing careand criteria-based performance evaluations that reflect the job descriptions.Measures must be taken to evaluate the nursing care provided, as described inthe standards of nursing care.' When our 82-bed general hospital was surveyed by the Joint Commissionin June of 1981, the nfirse surveyor not only approved this material, but alsopraised and recommended it to other hospitals. The key factor differentiatingthis material from other work was the integrated standards of practice, jobdescriptions, and performance evaluations based upon the nursing process.From the numerous calls and requests we received for copies of this material,we determined that there was a need to have it published.IX