Nurses and other field experts are holistically involved in charting and reviewing a plan of care based on dynamic skill sets and continued education to stay abreast of new techniques. A core foundation in a nurse's training is the ability to update nurse assessments based on the patient's progress (or decline), which can reflect their knowledge. For example, critical thinking skills are part of the nurse assessment when looking at the pathology of underlying symptoms to adjust the plan of care strategy.

Employers should cover nurse assessments in their policies as a mainstay in keeping good records so that nurses stay on par with their discipline. A systematic plan of care is one of the tiered formats that go into a nurse assessment, followed by reassessments up to the time of the patient's medical release.