What the report covers

The assignment applies Maslow's hierarchy to a fundamental-nursing case. It is not a reprint of a marketing paper, and it is not a general motivation essay already written for another product.

Write the five needs, apply them to one short case, then name the limits.

Five needs in a nursing assessment

Physiological needs appear as breathing, fluid, nutrition, rest, and elimination. Safety includes fall risk, infection, and a predictable environment. Belonging and esteem show up in family contact, privacy, and how a person is addressed. Self-actualization, in this setting, is closer to meaning and recovery goals than to a slogan about growth.

A case write-up should say what was observed, not only which label was chosen. Priority talk is useful when it follows the assessment, not when it replaces it.

A short case shape

Take a person after surgery, or an older adult in a ward. List two physiological findings, one safety issue, and one psychosocial need, then write a first-day plan that does not pretend all five levels can be 'solved' in a single shift.

If the source case has none, say that the numbers would have to come from the chart.

Limits

The evidence for a strict order is weak, and needs can be active together. Culture changes what counts as privacy or family. Wahba and Bridwell's review is often cited on the empirical side. A nursing paper that only pastes five labels under five headings is thinner than one that shows a conflict of priorities and how the nurse would document a choice.

Sources

1. Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370–396.
2. Maslow, A. H. (1954). Motivation and personality. Harper.
3. A fundamentals-of-nursing textbook or a named nursing-process reference used in the course, for how assessment and care planning are actually written. Do not treat Maslow as a nursing diagnosis taxonomy.

Last updated: November 13, 2026