[Durgical](https://durgical.com/en/) › [DurgiPedia](https://durgical.com/en/durgipedia/) › [Nursing](https://durgical.com/en/nursing/) › [The nursing process and documentation](https://durgical.com/en/nursing/areas/process/) › Implementation and evaluation: was the goal met?

# Implementation and evaluation: was the goal met?

- Fundamental

After acting, the nurse compares the patient's condition with the goal and decides whether to continue, change or close the plan.

Updated Nov 5, 2026

## Key points

- Each goal is rated met, partially met or not met within its time frame.
- If partial or not met: review the diagnosis, goal, interventions and barriers, and adjust the plan.
- Evaluation is continuous: every contact with the patient is a new assessment.
- Direct care (in contact with the patient) and indirect care (documenting, care conferences, communicating with the team).
- Interventions are documented in a timely way; legally, what is not documented is treated as not done.

## What it is

Implementation is putting the plan into practice: direct care interventions (in personal contact with the patient, such as wound care, repositioning or walking) and indirect ones (away from the patient, such as documenting, care conferences or communicating with other providers). Evaluation compares new assessment data with the expected outcomes and their time frame, and rates each goal as met, partially met or not met. If it was not fully met, the plan is reviewed: the diagnosis, the goal, the interventions and the barriers. Evaluation is continuous and is recorded. Before each intervention the nurse reassesses: if the condition changed, the planned action may have to wait.

## Key points

- Evaluating requires new data, not repeating the admission data.
- Useful questions: did anything unexpected happen? did the condition change? were the goal and time frame realistic? is the diagnosis still right?
- One task can be both direct and dependent care, such as giving a prescribed medication.
- When a goal is not met, the time frame was often too ambitious or the outcome unrealistic.

## Components

- Reassessment of the patient.
- Comparison with the goal's measurable criterion.
- Judgment: met, partial or not met.
- Decision: continue, modify or mark as resolved.
- Entry in the clinical record.

## What it is for

- To know whether care really helps.
- To correct a plan that is not working in time.
- To provide data to improve the quality of the service.

## Evaluation result and next step

| Result | What it means | Next step |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Met | The goal's criterion was reached within the time frame | Record it; mark the problem resolved or set a new goal |
| Partially met | There was improvement, but part of the criterion is missing | Review interventions and time frame; add or change interventions |
| Not met | The expected change did not happen, or things got worse | Reassess; review diagnosis and goal; call for help if deteriorating |

## In nursing practice

- Example: shortness of breath improved but leg oedema persists: goal partially met; interventions are added and the patient is reassessed.
- If the patient worsens, evaluation turns into an emergency assessment and the nurse in charge is told.
- Evaluation is recorded with data («walks to the bathroom with one person's help»), not vague judgments («better»).

## Common mistakes

- Writing «goal met» with no data to show it.
- Keeping the same plan although the goal is not met.
- Evaluating only at the end of the stay and not every shift.
- Not recording the evaluation.

## Test yourself

Think of the answer, then tap the question to see it.

## What are the three possible ratings of a goal at evaluation?

Met, partially met or not met, within the set time frame.

## What is reviewed when a goal was not met?

The diagnosis, the goal and its time frame, the interventions and the barriers that arose; then the plan is adjusted.

## Is charting in the clinical record direct or indirect care?

Indirect: it is done away from the patient, but it supports their care.

## Why does the nurse reassess right before an intervention?

To detect changes in condition: a planned action, such as walking a dizzy patient with low blood pressure, may have to be held.

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## Connections

## Related 1

- [Planning care: priorities, measurable goals and interventions](https://durgical.com/en/nursing/planning-care-priorities-measurable-goals-and-interventions/)

[← All of nursing](https://durgical.com/en/nursing/)

Educational content for students; it does not replace your institution's protocols, supervised clinical training or a prescriber's order. Dose-calculation examples use made-up numbers: they are educational, not a clinical order.

Sources: [Nursing Fundamentals (Open RN), 4.7 Implementation of Interventions](https://med.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Nursing/Nursing_Fundamentals_(OpenRN)/04%3A_Nursing_Process/4.07%3A_Implementation_of_Interventions) (Open RN, Chippewa Valley Technical College (LibreTexts), 2022); [Nursing Fundamentals (Open RN), 4.6 Planning](https://med.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Nursing/Nursing_Fundamentals_(OpenRN)/04%3A_Nursing_Process/4.06%3A_Planning) (Open RN, Chippewa Valley Technical College (LibreTexts), 2022); [Nursing Fundamentals (Open RN), 4.5 Outcome Identification](https://med.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Nursing/Nursing_Fundamentals_(OpenRN)/04%3A_Nursing_Process/4.05%3A_Outcome_Identification) (Open RN, Chippewa Valley Technical College (LibreTexts), 2022); [Nursing Fundamentals (Open RN), 4.8 Evaluation](https://med.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Nursing/Nursing_Fundamentals_(OpenRN)/04%3A_Nursing_Process/4.08%3A_Evaluation) (Open RN, Chippewa Valley Technical College (LibreTexts), 2022).

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License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Cite as: DurgiPedia (durgical.com), https://durgical.com/en/nursing/implementation-and-evaluation-was-the-goal-met/