What is a Problem Statement?
A problem statement is one or two sentences that identifies and summarizes a condition, problem, or issue that an improvement process is going to be developed to address.
A problem statement provides an articulate expression of what the improvement process (project) is setting out to achieve.
However, before a problem statement can be written there needs to be an understanding of the difference between the symptoms of a problem and an actual problem.
Symptoms are typically the only indication that there is a problem. Symptoms are the shadows of underlying problems; the evidence by which a problem affects staff and makes itself known. In other words, a symptom is not a problem, but rather the outcome of an actual problem. A problem can be defined as the gap between the existing state and the desired state of a process.
Constructing Your Problem Statement
To write a problem statement, answer the following questions and develop your one or two sentence statement from the answers.
Completed Example:
Questions
Example Responses
What is the problem?
Graduate students are not prepared for advanced levels of scholarly writing.
Who does this effect?
Students who are in graduate programs and their faculty.
How does this problem make you feel?
Concerned about how current instructional strategies, feedback mechanisms, and course design do not support students’ competency.
When is it a problem?
Every time a student submits a scholarly paper for evaluation.
Why should I care?
Graduate students are expected to demonstrate advanced scholarly writing skills that reflect critical thinking, evidence- based reasoning, and professional communication.
How does it affect the customer?
This gap can affect the students’ ability to succeed in coursework, contribute to the nursing body of knowledge,
and engage in leadership or policy advocacy.
Tips for Writing a Problem Statement
· Look for the problem, not the solutions.
· Focus on one problem.
· Keep the statement to one or two sentences.
· Ensure you can distinguish between symptoms and problems. An effective method fordoing this is to use the 5 Whys tool.
Herzing University, 2025
As you are considering and answering the questions in the first column, write down any key words.
Then, write the first draft of the statement describing the current state using the information you gathered. Thus, the example’s problem statement would be as follows:
Current instructional strategies do not support the development of scholarly writing skills among graduate nursing students. There is a need to explore how instructional strategies influence the development of scholarly writing skills among graduate nursing students.
Questions
Responses
What is the problem?
Who does this effect?
How does this problem make you feel?
When is it a problem?
Why should I care?
How does it affect the customer?
Draft Problem Statement
Write the first draft of the statement describing the current state using the information you gathered.