Recurrent observations of physical and psychosocial aspects of functioning in aging, chronically ill patients were conducted to determine how nurses would utilize these data in developing written plans for patient care. Behaviors and capacities of 52 patients were observed by nursing personnel in relation to ward and dayroom hospital care environments, one group assessed weekly and the other at the beginning and end of an 8-week study period. The results indicated that, while nursing staff could readily rate physical and psychosocial aspects of functioning in their elderly patients, written plans for the nursing care of these patients tended to focus primarily on the patients' physical needs.