Nursing process documentation: rationale and methods of analytical study.

Objective: to describe the methods used to analyze the associations between variables of service, nursing and the nursing process documentation in institutions of the Department of Health of the State of São Paulo.

Method: multilevel analytical study with data obtained in the domains of institution, units of the institution and nursing professionals who work there, using standardized instruments. The analyses had as axis the degree of completeness of the nursing process documentation in units or institutions and their association with variables of nursing personnel, of units and of institutions.

Conclusion: This study will provide important empirical evidence on the factors involved in the nursing process documentation.