The goal of the study is to determine the problems that the nurses tend to look and to constitute a common language in the acute care unit.

In the study, document analysis method was used. The observation forms filled by both nurses and physicians for the risky patients were examined. For the examination and categorization, a coding chart containing the problems in both forms was used. Risky patient assessment form of thirty two patients (filled by the physician) and three hundred fifty five nurse observation forms used for same patients were included into the study.

The mean of days in which observations recorded by the nurse were 15.29±6.98 (min.4-max.29). The risky patient form was filled by the physician generally in the day that the patient was hospitalized. The majority of the patients for which observation form was filled had psychotic disorders. It has been seen that “self-care deficit” (70.7%) was mostly marked and, “eating the meal” (74.1%), “anxious facial expression” (44.5%) and “sleeping at night” (52.7%) were tagged mostly in nurse’s form. In the physician’s form, aggression and agitation was mostly marked (63.1%).

The problems declared in the nurse observation form are rather concerned with the daily life activities not including sufficient information in terms of the risk creating characteristics. It has been concluded that the changes should be assessed quickly and clearly. The observation forms do not provide practical information about the course of the disease although these are kept daily.