Crafting an exceptional nursing care plan is fundamental to effective patient care. It’s a meticulous, step-by-step process that ensures all facets of a patient’s needs are accurately addressed. This guide serves as a comprehensive tutorial, walking you through each stage of developing a robust care plan. Drawing upon evidence-based practices and acting as a diagnosis handbook, this resource is invaluable for both student and professional nurses. We offer an ultimate database brimming with nursing care plans (NCPs) and nursing diagnosis examples, all accessible for free to empower your practice. Within, you’ll find care plan components, illustrative examples, clear objectives, and stated purposes, providing a detailed roadmap for writing outstanding nursing care plans or creating customized templates for your specific unit. Consider this your essential test bank of knowledge and practical application for planning patient care effectively.
Table of Contents
What is a Nursing Care Plan?
A nursing care plan (NCP) is a structured and systematic methodology employed to pinpoint a patient’s current health needs and proactively identify potential future needs or risks. These plans act as a vital communication bridge between nurses, patients, and the broader healthcare team, ensuring cohesive strategies to achieve optimal healthcare outcomes. The nursing care planning process is indispensable; without it, the quality and consistency of patient care would be significantly compromised.
The journey of nursing care planning commences the moment a patient is admitted into a healthcare facility. It’s a dynamic process, continuously refined and updated in response to the patient’s evolving condition and the ongoing evaluation of goal attainment. At its core, planning and delivering individualized, patient-centered care forms the bedrock of excellence in nursing practice.
Types of Nursing Care Plans
Nursing care plans exist on a spectrum from informal to formal. An informal nursing care plan is essentially a mental strategy, a nurse’s internal roadmap for care delivery. In contrast, a formal nursing care plan is a documented, either written or electronic, guide that systematically organizes all pertinent patient care information.
Formal care plans further branch into standardized and individualized types. Standardized care plans provide pre-set guidelines for nursing care, designed for groups of patients with common, recurring needs. Individualized care plans, however, are meticulously tailored to address the unique needs of a specific patient, particularly those needs not adequately covered by standardized plans.
Standardized Care Plans
Standardized care plans are proactively developed by nursing staff and healthcare institutions to guarantee consistent care for patients sharing similar conditions. These plans are instrumental in ensuring that baseline care standards are consistently met. They also optimize nurses’ time by eliminating the repetitive task of developing common care activities for numerous patients within a nursing unit.
It’s crucial to note that standardized care plans are not designed to meet a patient’s specific, unique goals. Instead, they serve as an excellent starting point – a foundational framework from which to develop a truly individualized care plan.
The care plans presented in this guide are primarily standardized care plans. They are intended to serve as a robust framework or directional guide to assist in the development of truly individualized care plans.
Individualized Care Plans
An individualized care plan represents a sophisticated approach. It involves carefully adapting a standardized care plan to precisely align with the specific needs and goals of an individual patient. This adaptation incorporates approaches that have proven effective for that particular patient, ensuring a more personalized and holistic care experience, better suited to their unique strengths, needs, and aspirations.
Furthermore, individualized care plans have a tangible impact on patient satisfaction. When patients perceive their care as being specifically designed for them, they are more likely to feel understood and valued. This heightened sense of personal attention directly translates to increased satisfaction with their overall care experience. In today’s healthcare environment, where patient satisfaction is increasingly recognized as a key indicator of quality, this aspect is critically important.
Tips on how to individualize a nursing care plan:
Objectives
The creation of nursing care plans is driven by several key objectives:
- To foster evidence-based nursing care, promoting consistent and high-quality practices within hospitals and health centers.
- To champion holistic care, addressing the patient as a whole, encompassing their physical, psychological, social, and spiritual dimensions in the management and prevention of disease.
- To establish structured care programs like care pathways and care bundles. Care pathways encourage collaborative team efforts to define care standards and expected outcomes. Care bundles, conversely, focus on consolidating best practices for managing specific diseases.
- To clearly define and differentiate between broad goals and specific, measurable expected outcomes.
- To enhance communication and ensure thorough documentation of the care plan, facilitating seamless information sharing among the healthcare team.
- To provide a framework for measuring the effectiveness and impact of nursing care interventions.
Purposes of a Nursing Care Plan
Nursing care plans serve multiple critical purposes, underscoring their importance in healthcare delivery:
- Defines the nurse’s role. Care plans delineate the unique and independent contributions of nurses in patient care. They highlight the nurse’s responsibility in addressing clients’ holistic health and well-being, independent of solely relying on physician’s orders or interventions.
- Provides direction for individualized patient care. A care plan acts as a detailed roadmap, guiding the care delivery process. It empowers nurses to employ critical thinking to develop interventions that are directly tailored to meet the individual needs of each patient.
- Ensures continuity of care. By providing a clear, documented plan, nurses across different shifts and departments can deliver consistent, high-quality interventions. This continuity ensures patients receive the maximum benefit from their treatment regimen.
- Coordinates care across disciplines. Care plans ensure that all members of the healthcare team are well-informed about the patient’s needs and the necessary actions to address them. This coordinated approach minimizes gaps in care and promotes a unified care strategy.
- Facilitates comprehensive documentation. Care plans serve as official documentation, outlining essential observations, planned nursing actions, and specific instructions for the patient and their family. Accurate documentation in the care plan is crucial; if care is not documented, there is no official record of it being provided.
- Guides staff assignments. In situations where patients require specialized care, care plans assist in matching patient needs with staff possessing particular skills and expertise.
- Monitors patient progress. Care plans are vital tools for tracking a patient’s progress and making necessary adjustments to the care strategy as their health status evolves and goals change.
- Supports reimbursement processes. Insurance companies rely on medical records, including care plans, to determine appropriate reimbursement for hospital care services.
- Defines client’s goals and fosters engagement. Care plans actively involve both nurses and patients in the treatment and care process, promoting patient participation and a shared understanding of healthcare goals.
Components
A comprehensive nursing care plan (NCP) typically includes several key components: nursing diagnoses, identified client problems, expected outcomes, nursing interventions, and rationales for these interventions. Each of these components is detailed further below:
Care Plan Formats
Nursing care plan formats are generally structured into four-column layouts, including: (1) nursing diagnoses, (2) desired outcomes and goals, (3) nursing interventions, and (4) evaluation. Some healthcare facilities adopt a three-column format, combining goals and evaluation into a single column. Others use a five-column format, adding a column for initial assessment cues.
Three-Column Format
The three-column plan organizes information into nursing diagnoses, outcomes and evaluation, and interventions.
Three-column nursing care plan format
Four-Column Format
This format expands to include columns for nursing diagnosis, goals and outcomes, interventions, and evaluation, offering a more detailed structure.
Four-column nursing care plan template
Below is a downloadable document containing sample templates for various nursing care plan formats. You are encouraged to edit, modify, and share these templates to suit your needs.
Download: Printable Nursing Care Plan Templates and Formats
Student Care Plans
Student care plans are intentionally designed to be more extensive and detailed than those used by practicing nurses. This is because they serve as a crucial learning tool for nursing students, helping them to deeply engage with the care planning process.
Student nursing care plans are more detailed.
Typically, student nurses are required to handwrite their care plans, and these often include an additional column for “Rationale” or “Scientific Explanation.” This column, placed after the nursing interventions, requires students to articulate the scientific principles that justify the selection of each nursing intervention, further solidifying their understanding.
Writing a Nursing Care Plan
How do you effectively write a nursing care plan (NCP)? Simply follow these sequential steps to develop a comprehensive care plan tailored to your patient.
Step 1: Data Collection or Assessment
The initial step in formulating a nursing care plan is to compile a comprehensive patient database. This is achieved through meticulous assessment techniques and data collection methods, including physical assessments, detailed health histories, patient interviews, reviews of medical records, and relevant diagnostic studies. A patient database should encompass all gathered health information. This stage is crucial for nurses to identify related or risk factors and defining characteristics, which are essential for formulating accurate nursing diagnoses. Many healthcare institutions or nursing schools provide specific assessment formats to guide this process.
Critical thinking is paramount during patient assessment. It involves integrating knowledge from various scientific disciplines and professional guidelines to inform evaluations effectively. This cognitive process is central to complex clinical decision-making, aiming to precisely identify patients’ healthcare needs within a supportive environment with access to reliable information.
Step 2: Data Analysis and Organization
Once you have amassed comprehensive patient health information, the next step involves data analysis, clustering, and organization. This structured approach is essential for formulating accurate nursing diagnoses, prioritizing care needs, and defining desired patient outcomes.
Step 3: Formulating Your Nursing Diagnoses
Nursing diagnoses provide a standardized method for identifying, focusing on, and addressing specific patient needs and responses to both current health issues and potential high-risk problems. These diagnoses refer to actual or potential health problems that nurses can independently prevent or resolve through nursing interventions.
For detailed guidance on formulating nursing diagnoses, refer to this comprehensive resource: Nursing Diagnosis (NDx): Complete Guide and List.
Step 4: Setting Priorities
Setting priorities involves establishing a logical order for addressing nursing diagnoses and interventions. In this critical step, nurses and patients collaborate to determine which identified problems require immediate attention. Diagnoses are typically categorized by priority level: high, medium, or low. Life-threatening conditions invariably receive the highest priority.
Nursing diagnoses align with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, a framework that aids in prioritizing and planning care based on patient-centered outcomes. Developed by Abraham Maslow in 1943, this hierarchy organizes fundamental human needs. It posits that basic physiological needs must be satisfied before higher-level needs, such as self-esteem and self-actualization, can be effectively addressed. Physiological and safety needs are foundational for implementing nursing care and interventions. They form the base of Maslow’s pyramid, establishing the groundwork for both physical and emotional well-being.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
- Basic Physiological Needs: These encompass essential life-sustaining requirements such as nutrition (water and food), elimination (toileting), airway management (suctioning), breathing support (oxygen therapy), circulation maintenance (pulse monitoring, cardiac monitoring, blood pressure management), sleep, sexual health, adequate shelter, and physical exercise.
- Safety and Security: This level focuses on injury prevention strategies (side rails, call lights, hand hygiene, isolation protocols, suicide precautions, fall prevention measures, car seats, helmets, seat belts) and fostering a secure environment built on trust and safety (therapeutic relationships, patient education on modifiable risk factors for stroke and heart disease).
- Love and Belonging: Addressing this level involves fostering supportive interpersonal relationships, implementing strategies to prevent social isolation (combating bullying), employing active listening skills, therapeutic communication techniques, and supporting healthy sexual intimacy.
- Self-Esteem: This includes promoting community acceptance, workplace inclusion, personal achievements, a sense of control or empowerment, and positive self-perception regarding physical appearance and body image.
- Self-Actualization: This pinnacle of the hierarchy involves creating empowering environments, supporting spiritual growth, fostering the ability to consider diverse perspectives, and facilitating the achievement of one’s maximum potential.
Virginia Henderson’s 14 Needs as applied to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Learn more about it here.
When prioritizing care, nurses must consider the patient’s health values, personal beliefs, immediate priorities, available resources, and the urgency of each health issue. Patient involvement in this prioritization process is crucial to enhance cooperation and ensure patient-centered care.
Step 5: Establishing Client Goals and Desired Outcomes
Following the prioritization of nursing diagnoses, nurses and patients collaboratively establish goals for each identified priority. Goals or desired outcomes articulate what the nurse aims to achieve through the implementation of nursing interventions, directly derived from the patient’s nursing diagnoses. These goals serve as a compass for planning interventions, establish benchmarks for evaluating patient progress, enable both the patient and nurse to ascertain when problems are resolved, and provide motivation by fostering a sense of accomplishment.
Examples of goals and desired outcomes. Notice how they’re formatted and written.
A singular overarching goal is typically defined for each nursing diagnosis. The terms “goal outcomes” and “expected outcomes” are often used interchangeably in practice.
According to Hamilton and Price (2013), effective goals should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-oriented.
- Specific. A goal must be clear, significant, and precisely defined to be effective.
- Measurable or Meaningful. Ensuring a goal is measurable allows for objective progress monitoring and clear determination of when the desired outcome is achieved.
- Attainable or Action-Oriented. Goals should be ambitious yet achievable, maintaining flexibility while remaining within the realm of possibility.
- Realistic or Results-Oriented. It is important to set goals that are realistic and focused on achieving tangible and successful outcomes, considering the resources at hand.
- Timely or Time-Oriented. Every goal requires a defined timeframe, creating a deadline to maintain focus and provide a clear target to work towards.
Hogston (2011) advocates for the REEPIG standards to ensure the highest standards of care. Nursing care plans should be:
- Realistic. Feasible given the available resources and constraints.
- Explicitly stated. Clearly articulated to avoid ambiguity and ensure precise understanding of required actions.
- Evidence-based. Grounded in research and empirical evidence to support the proposed interventions.
- Prioritized. Focused on addressing the most urgent and critical problems first.
- Involve. Collaborative, involving both the patient and all relevant members of the multidisciplinary healthcare team.
- Goal-centered. Designed to directly contribute to the achievement of the established patient goals.
Short-Term and Long-Term Goals
Goals and expected outcomes must be inherently measurable and patient-centered. Goal construction should focus on problem prevention, resolution, and rehabilitation. Goals are categorized as either short-term or long-term. In acute care settings, most goals are short-term due to the immediate focus on the patient’s pressing needs. Long-term goals are more commonly utilized for patients managing chronic health conditions or those in long-term care settings such as homes, nursing facilities, or extended-care facilities.
- Short-term goal. A statement identifying a behavior change expected to be achieved rapidly, typically within hours or days.
- Long-term goal. An objective intended to be accomplished over a more extended period, usually spanning weeks or months.
- Discharge planning. Primarily concerned with establishing long-term goals, aimed at promoting ongoing restorative care and problem resolution through home health services, physical therapy, or other referral resources.
Components of Goals and Desired Outcomes
Goal and desired outcome statements typically consist of four key components: a subject, a verb, conditions or modifiers, and a criterion of desired performance.
Components of goals and desired outcomes in a nursing care plan.
- Subject. The subject is the patient, a specific part of the patient, or a patient attribute (e.g., pulse rate, body temperature, urinary output). Often, the subject is implied and omitted in goal statements, as it is generally understood to be the patient unless otherwise specified (e.g., family, significant other).
- Verb. The verb specifies the action the patient is expected to perform, indicating what the patient should do, learn, or experience.
- Conditions or modifiers. These elements specify the “what, when, where, or how” of the expected behavior, providing context to the circumstances under which the behavior should occur.
- Criterion of desired performance. This component sets the standard for evaluating performance or the level at which the patient should exhibit the specified behavior. This is often optional but adds precision to the goal.
When formulating goals and desired outcomes, nurses should adhere to these key guidelines:
- Frame goals and outcomes in terms of patient responses, not as activities performed by the nurse. Starting each goal with “Client will […],” helps maintain focus on patient behavior and responses.
- Avoid stating goals in terms of what the nurse hopes to accomplish; instead, concentrate on what the patient is expected to achieve.
- Utilize observable and measurable terms for outcomes. Refrain from using vague language that requires subjective interpretation or judgment.
- Ensure desired outcomes are realistic, considering the patient’s resources, abilities, limitations, and the designated timeframe for care.
- Verify that goals are compatible with the therapeutic interventions of other healthcare professionals involved in the patient’s care.
- Ensure each goal is derived from only one nursing diagnosis. This specificity streamlines care evaluation, ensuring that planned nursing interventions are clearly linked to the identified diagnosis.
- Finally, it is critical to ensure that the patient considers the goals important and values them, fostering patient cooperation and engagement in the care plan.
Step 6: Selecting Nursing Interventions
Nursing interventions are the specific actions or activities that a nurse performs to help patients achieve their established goals. The interventions selected should primarily aim to eliminate or mitigate the root cause of the prioritized nursing problem or diagnosis. For risk-related nursing problems, interventions should focus on reducing the patient’s identified risk factors. Although nursing interventions are identified and documented during the planning phase of the nursing process, they are actually carried out during the implementation phase.
Types of Nursing Interventions
Nursing interventions are categorized into independent, dependent, or collaborative actions:
Types of nursing interventions in a care plan.
- Independent nursing interventions are actions that nurses are authorized to initiate based on their professional judgment and skills. These include ongoing patient assessment, emotional support, comfort measures, patient education, physical care, and referrals to other healthcare specialists.
- Dependent nursing interventions are actions that must be carried out under a physician’s orders or supervision. These encompass orders for medication administration, intravenous therapy, diagnostic tests, specific treatments, dietary instructions, and activity or rest regimens. Nursing responsibilities within dependent interventions also include assessment and providing clear explanations to patients regarding medical orders.
- Collaborative interventions are actions that nurses undertake in partnership with other members of the healthcare team, such as physicians, social workers, dietitians, and therapists. These interventions are developed through consultation to integrate the diverse expertise of the healthcare team.
Nursing interventions should be:
- Safe and appropriate for the patient’s age, overall health status, and specific condition.
- Achievable given the available resources, staffing, and time constraints.
- Aligned with the patient’s personal values, cultural background, and beliefs.
- Compatible and coordinated with other therapies the patient is receiving.
- Based on established nursing knowledge, clinical experience, or evidence from relevant scientific disciplines.
When documenting nursing interventions, adhere to these guidelines:
- Record the date and sign the care plan. Dating the plan is crucial for tracking, evaluation, future reviews, and subsequent planning. The nurse’s signature establishes accountability.
- Nursing interventions should be specific and clearly articulated, initiated with an action verb that precisely describes the nurse’s expected action. Action verbs should be precise, and qualifiers specifying how, when, where, timing, frequency, and quantity should detail the planned activity. For example: “Educate parents on the correct method for taking temperature and instruct them to report any significant changes,” or “Assess urine characteristics including color, amount, odor, and turbidity.”
- Use only abbreviations that are officially accepted and recognized by the healthcare institution.
Step 7: Providing Rationale
Rationales, also known as scientific explanations, are essential for elucidating the evidence-based reasoning behind the selection of each nursing intervention in the NCP.
Sample nursing interventions and rationale for a care plan (NCP)
While rationales are typically not included in standard, working care plans used by practicing nurses, they are a critical component in student care plans. They serve to help nursing students link pathophysiological and psychological principles directly to the nursing interventions they choose, deepening their understanding of the underlying science of care.
Step 8: Evaluation
Evaluation is a structured, ongoing, and purposeful process designed to assess a patient’s progress toward achieving the defined goals and desired outcomes. It also serves to evaluate the effectiveness of the nursing care plan (NCP) itself. Evaluation is a cornerstone of the nursing process because the conclusions drawn from this step directly inform future actions. The evaluation determines whether a nursing intervention should be continued as is, modified, or discontinued.
Step 9: Putting it on Paper
The patient’s care plan is formally documented according to hospital policy, becoming an integral part of the patient’s permanent medical record. This documentation ensures that subsequent nurses and healthcare providers have access to the care strategy. Nursing programs often utilize varied care plan formats. Most formats are designed to guide students through the interconnected steps of the nursing process in a systematic manner, with many adopting a five-column layout to capture all essential elements comprehensively.
Nursing Care Plan List
This section provides a comprehensive list of sample nursing care plans (NCPs) and nursing diagnoses for a wide range of diseases and health conditions. These are categorized for easy navigation:
Basic Nursing and General Care Plans
This category includes miscellaneous nursing care plan examples that do not neatly fit into other specific categories:
| Basic Nursing & General Care Plans |
|---|
| Acute Confusion (Delirium) and Altered Mental Status |
| Acute Pain and Pain Management |
| Activity Intolerance and Generalized Weakness |
| Cancer (Oncology Nursing) |
| Caregiver Role Strain and Family Caregiver Support Systems |
| Chronic Confusion (Dementia) |
| End-of-Life Care (Hospice Care or Palliative) |
| Fall Risk and Fall Prevention |
| Fatigue and Lethargy |
| Geriatric Nursing (Older Adult) |
| Grieving and Loss |
| Hypothermia and Cold Injuries |
| Hyperthermia (Fever) |
| Impaired Swallowing (Dysphagia) |
| Insomnia and Sleep Deprivation |
| Prolonged Bed Rest |
| Risk for Injury and Patient Safety |
| Self-Care and Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) |
| Surgery (Perioperative Client) |
| Systemic Lupus Erythematosus |
| Total Parenteral Nutrition |
Surgery and Perioperative Care Plans
Care plans specifically designed for surgical interventions and perioperative care:
| Surgery and Perioperative Care Plans |
|---|
| Amputation |
| Appendectomy |
| Cholecystectomy |
| Fracture UPDATED! |
| Hemorrhoids |
| Hysterectomy |
| Ileostomy & Colostomy |
| Laminectomy (Disc Surgery) |
| Mastectomy |
| Subtotal Gastrectomy |
| Surgery (Perioperative Client) |
| Thyroidectomy |
| Total Joint (Knee, Hip) Replacement |
Cardiac Care Plans
Nursing care plans addressing various diseases of the cardiovascular system:
| Cardiac Care Plans |
|---|
| Angina Pectoris (Coronary Artery Disease) |
| Cardiac Arrhythmia (Digitalis Toxicity) |
| Cardiac Catheterization |
| Cardiogenic Shock |
| Congenital Heart Disease |
| Decreased Cardiac Output & Cardiac Support |
| Heart Failure UPDATED! |
| Hypertension UPDATED! |
| Hypovolemic Shock |
| Impaired Tissue Perfusion & Ischemia |
| Myocardial Infarction |
| Pacemaker Therapy |
Endocrine and Metabolic Care Plans
Nursing care plans (NCPs) focusing on the endocrine system and metabolic disorders:
| Endocrine and Metabolic Care Plans |
|---|
| Addison’s Disease |
| Cushing’s Disease |
| Diabetes Mellitus (Type 1, Type 2) UPDATED! |
| Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA) and Hyperglycemic Hyperosmolar Nonketotic Syndrome (HHNS) |
| Eating Disorders: Anorexia & Bulimia Nervosa |
| Fluid Volume Deficit (Dehydration & Hypovolemia) |
| Fluid Volume Excess (Hypervolemia) |
| Gestational Diabetes Mellitus |
| Hyperthyroidism |
| Hypothyroidism |
| Imbalanced Nutrition (Malnutrition) |
| Obesity & Overweight |
| Thyroidectomy |
| Unstable Blood Glucose Levels (Hyperglycemia & Hypoglycemia) |
| Acid-Base Imbalances |
|---|
| Metabolic Acidosis |
| Metabolic Alkalosis |
| Respiratory Acidosis |
| Respiratory Alkalosis |
| Electrolyte Imbalances |
|---|
| Calcium (Ca) Imbalances: Hypercalcemia and Hypocalcemia |
| Magnesium (Mg) Imbalances: Hypermagnesemia and Hypomagnesemia |
| Potassium (K) Imbalances: Hyperkalemia and Hypokalemia |
| Sodium (Na) Imbalances: Hypernatremia and Hyponatremia |
Gastrointestinal
Care plans (NCPs) covering disorders of the gastrointestinal and digestive system:
| Gastrointestinal Care Plans |
|---|
| Appendectomy |
| Bowel Incontinence (Fecal Incontinence) |
| Cholecystectomy |
| Constipation |
| Diarrhea Nursing Care Plan and Management |
| Cholecystitis and Cholelithiasis |
| Gastroenteritis |
| Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) |
| Hemorrhoids |
| Hepatitis |
| Ileostomy & Colostomy |
| Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) |
| Intussusception |
| Liver Cirrhosis |
| Nausea & Vomiting |
| Pancreatitis |
| Peritonitis |
| Peptic Ulcer Disease |
| Subtotal Gastrectomy |
| Umbilical and Inguinal Hernia |
Hematologic and Lymphatic
Care plans related to the hematologic and lymphatic system:
| Hematologic & Lymphatic Care Plans |
|---|
| Anaphylactic Shock |
| Anemia UPDATED! |
| Aortic Aneurysm |
| Bleeding Risk & Hemophilia |
| Deep Vein Thrombosis |
| Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation |
| Hemophilia |
| Kawasaki Disease |
| Leukemia |
| Lymphoma |
| Sepsis and Septicemia |
| Sickle Cell Anemia Crisis |
Infectious Diseases
NCPs for communicable and infectious diseases:
| Infectious Diseases Care Plans |
|---|
| Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) (HIV Positive) |
| Acute Rheumatic Fever |
| Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever |
| Herpes Zoster (Shingles) |
| Influenza (Flu) |
| Pulmonary Tuberculosis |
| Risk for Infection & Infection Control |
Integumentary
All about disorders and conditions affecting the integumentary system:
| Integumentary Care Plans |
|---|
| Burn Injury |
| Dermatitis |
| Herpes Zoster (Shingles) |
| Pressure Ulcer (Bedsores) |
| Wound Care and Skin/Tissue Integrity |
Maternal and Newborn Care Plans
Nursing care plans about the care of the pregnant mother and her infant. See care plans for maternity and obstetric nursing:
| Maternal and Newborn Care Plans |
|---|
| Abortion (Termination of Pregnancy) |
| Cervical Insufficiency (Premature Dilation of the Cervix) |
| Cesarean Birth |
| Cleft Palate and Cleft Lip |
| Gestational Diabetes Mellitus |
| Hyperbilirubinemia (Jaundice) |
| Labor Stages, Induced, Augmented, Dysfunctional, Precipitous Labor |
| Neonatal Sepsis |
| Perinatal Loss (Miscarriage, Stillbirth) |
| Placental Abruption |
| Placenta Previa |
| Postpartum Hemorrhage |
| Postpartum Thrombophlebitis |
| Prenatal Hemorrhage |
| Preeclampsia and Gestational Hypertension |
| Prenatal Infection |
| Preterm Labor |
| Puerperal & Postpartum Infections |
| Substance (Alcohol and Drug) Abuse in Pregnancy |
Mental Health and Psychiatric
Care plans for mental health and psychiatric nursing:
| Mental Health and Psychiatric Care Plans |
|---|
| Alcohol Withdrawal |
| Anxiety & Fear |
| Anxiety and Panic Disorders |
| Bipolar Disorders |
| Body Image Disturbance & Self-Esteem |
| Impaired Thought Processes & Cognitive Impairment |
| Major Depression |
| Personality Disorders |
| Schizophrenia |
| Sexual Assault |
| Substance Dependence and Abuse |
| Suicide Behaviors |
Musculoskeletal
Care plans related to the musculoskeletal system:
| Musculoskeletal Care Plans |
|---|
| Amputation |
| Congenital Hip Dysplasia |
| Fracture UPDATED! |
| Impaired Physical Mobility & Immobility |
| Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis |
| Laminectomy (Disc Surgery) |
| Osteoarthritis |
| Osteogenic Sarcoma (Osteosarcoma) |
| Osteoporosis |
| Rheumatoid Arthritis |
| Scoliosis |
| Spinal Cord Injury |
| Total Joint (Knee, Hip) Replacement |
Neurological
Nursing care plans (NCPs) for related to nervous system disorders:
| Neurological Care Plans |
|---|
| Alzheimer’s Disease UPDATED! |
| Brain Tumor |
| Cerebral Palsy |
| Cerebrovascular Accident (Stroke) UPDATED! |
| Guillain-Barre Syndrome |
| Meningitis |
| Multiple Sclerosis |
| Parkinson’s Disease |
| Seizure Disorder |
| Spinal Cord Injury |
Ophthalmic
Care plans relating to eye disorders:
| Ophthalmic Care Plans |
|---|
| Cataracts |
| Glaucoma |
| Macular Degeneration |
Pediatric Nursing Care Plans
Nursing care plans (NCPs) for pediatric conditions and diseases:
| Pediatric Nursing Care Plans |
|---|
| Child Abuse |
| Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate |
| Dying Child |
| Febrile Seizure |
| Hospitalized Child |
| Hydrocephalus |
| Otitis Media |
| Spina Bifida |
| Tonsillitis and Adenoiditis |
Reproductive
Care plans related to reproductive and sexual function disorders:
| Reproductive Care Plans |
|---|
| Cryptorchidism (Undescended Testes) |
| Hysterectomy |
| Hypospadias and Epispadias |
| Mastectomy |
| Menopause |
| Prostatectomy |
Respiratory
Care plans for respiratory system disorders:
| Respiratory Care Plans |
|---|
| Airway Clearance Therapy & Coughing |
| Apnea |
| Asthma UPDATED! |
| Aspiration Risk & Aspiration Pneumonia |
| Bronchiolitis UPDATED! |
| Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD) UPDATED! |
| Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) UPDATED! |
| Croup Syndrome |
| Cystic Fibrosis UPDATED! |
| Epiglottitis |
| Hemothorax and Pneumothorax UPDATED! |
| Ineffective Breathing Pattern (Dyspnea) |
| Impairment of Gas Exchange |
| Influenza (Flu) UPDATED! |
| Lung Cancer UPDATED! |
| Mechanical Ventilation |
| Near-Drowning |
| Pleural Effusion |
| Pneumonia |
| Pulmonary Embolism |
| Pulmonary Tuberculosis |
| Tracheostomy |
Urinary
Care plans related to the kidney and urinary system disorders:
| Urinary Care Plans |
|---|
| Acute Glomerulonephritis |
| Acute Renal Failure |
| Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) |
| Chronic Renal Failure |
| Hemodialysis |
| Nephrotic Syndrome |
| Peritoneal Dialysis |
| Urolithiasis (Renal Calculi) |
| Urinary Elimination (Urinary Incontinence & Urinary Retention) |
| Urinary Tract Infection |
| Vesicoureteral Reflux (VUR) |
| Wilms Tumor (Nephroblastoma) |
Recommended Resources
Explore these recommended nursing diagnosis and nursing care plan books and resources to further enhance your knowledge and skills.
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Ackley and Ladwig’s Nursing Diagnosis Handbook: An Evidence-Based Guide to Planning CareThis handbook is highly recommended for its evidence-based approach to nursing interventions. It employs a streamlined three-step system to guide users through patient assessment, nursing diagnosis formulation, and comprehensive care planning. It includes clear, step-by-step instructions on implementing care and evaluating patient outcomes, effectively building diagnostic reasoning and critical thinking capabilities.
Nursing Care Plans – Nursing Diagnosis & Intervention (10th Edition)This resource features over two hundred care plans, all updated to reflect the most current evidence-based guidelines. The latest edition includes ICNP diagnoses, expanded care plans addressing LGBTQ health issues, and detailed coverage of electrolyte and acid-base balance.
Nurse’s Pocket Guide: Diagnoses, Prioritized Interventions, and Rationales This quick-reference tool is essential for accurately identifying diagnoses and planning efficient patient care. The sixteenth edition incorporates the latest nursing diagnoses and interventions, with an alphabetized listing of nursing diagnoses covering over 400 distinct disorders.
Nursing Diagnosis Manual: Planning, Individualizing, and Documenting Client Care This manual is invaluable for identifying appropriate interventions to effectively plan, personalize, and document care for over 800 medical conditions and disorders. Unique to this manual are detailed sections for each diagnosis, including subjective and objective data, sample clinical applications, prioritized actions/interventions with rationales, and comprehensive documentation guidelines, among other features.
All-in-One Nursing Care Planning Resource – E-Book: Medical-Surgical, Pediatric, Maternity, and Psychiatric-Mental Health This all-encompassing e-book includes over 100 care plans spanning medical-surgical, maternity/OB, pediatrics, and psychiatric and mental health nursing. Its interprofessional “patient problems” focus enhances communication skills and prepares nurses to effectively address patient concerns across various healthcare settings.
References and Sources
Recommended reading materials and sources for this NCP guide:
