by Debbie Stine

Created on: April 05, 2009   Last Updated: July 25, 2010

For students in a nursing program, a nursing care plan is one of those things that they know they have to do but usually don't fully understand why. Even for seasoned nurses, a nursing care plan is an often misunderstood and dreaded part of health care. A good care plan is actually a type of guide that helps to ensure quality care by identifying important items which are necessary for the individualized care of each patient. Even though many nurses feel that it is not needed or just a waste of time, it actually helps to co-ordinate care among all of the various individuals involved in the care of each patient. It should include not only the nurses and care provided by them, but all individuals and departments which may play a part in a patient's care.

Basically, a nursing care plan is the plan of care for a patient to insure continuity of care during a hospitalization or other type of treatment plan where there is more than one person providing care. To begin a care plan, an assessment is done initially and repeated as necessary to assure that individual needs are being met and goals achieved. Problems and concerns are then identified after the initial assessment and may be physical, emotional or even social concerns. Some of the problems may be easily identified and resolved but for others the only thing that may be accomplished is making sure that the problem doesn't get worse.

The next step in a care plan is to establish attainable goals for each problem that has been identified. Each goal should be specific to the problem and the interventions or ways the goals are to be reached should be identified and documented as they are completed. Each intervention should be something that is easily measured and also be a realistic way to address the problem it is supposed to be used for. Vague interventions should be avoided and be kept as specific and attainable as possible.

Some problems that may be identified will possibly never improve or be completely taken care of. In cases like that, helping to prevent complications may be the only intervention possible. Even in cases like that, the goals and interventions used should still be measurable and documented. As conditions and specifics change, the problems should be looked at again and an attempt should be made to assist in preventing a worsening of the problem being worked with.

A care plan is something that should be changed or revised as the condition of the patient changes. Problems may resolve or new problems arise requiring amendments to the existing plan. Ultimately, the reason a care plan is done is to ensure that a patient has the best possible outcome while in a health care facility. Through the use of a care plan, anyone that has contact with the patient should easily be able to care for them by using the information made available to them.

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