What is a Nursing Care Plan?
A nursing care plan (NCP) is a vital, formalized roadmap that nurses use to identify and address patient needs. It’s a structured process that pinpoints current health issues and anticipates potential risks, ensuring comprehensive patient care. These plans are crucial for effective communication among nurses, patients, and the broader healthcare team, all working in concert to achieve optimal health outcomes. Without a robust Care Plan For Nursing Diagnosis, the consistency and quality of patient care would be significantly compromised.
The process of nursing care planning starts the moment a patient is admitted and remains a dynamic document, constantly updated to reflect changes in the patient’s condition and progress towards their goals. This dedication to individualized, patient-centered care is the cornerstone of excellent nursing practice.
Types of Nursing Care Plans
Nursing care plans fall into two main categories: informal and formal. An informal nursing care plan is essentially a mental strategy, a nurse’s internal plan of action. In contrast, a formal nursing care plan is a documented guide, either written or digital, that meticulously organizes all aspects of a patient’s care.
Formal care plans are further divided into two subtypes: standardized and individualized. Standardized care plans provide a pre-set framework for patients with common needs. Individualized care plans, on the other hand, are custom-designed to address a specific patient’s unique requirements, particularly those not covered by standardized plans.
Standardized Care Plans
Standardized care plans are pre-written templates developed by nursing staff and healthcare institutions to ensure consistent care for patients with similar conditions. They serve as a baseline, guaranteeing that essential care standards are met and optimizing nurses’ efficiency by eliminating the need to repeatedly create plans for routine patient needs.
However, standardized care plans are intentionally broad and not tailored to individual patient goals. They serve as an excellent starting point but should ideally be adapted into individualized care plans to provide truly patient-centered care.
The care plans discussed in this guide are primarily standardized, designed to serve as a foundation for developing individualized plans.
Individualized Care Plans
An individualized care plan takes a standardized plan and personalizes it to meet the specific needs and objectives of each patient. This involves incorporating approaches known to be effective for that particular individual. This approach fosters more personalized and holistic care, better aligned with the patient’s unique strengths, needs, and goals.
Furthermore, individualized care plans significantly enhance patient satisfaction. When patients feel their care is specifically tailored to them, they are more likely to feel valued and understood, leading to a greater sense of satisfaction with their overall healthcare experience. In today’s patient-centric healthcare landscape, where patient satisfaction is a key indicator of quality, this personalization is increasingly important.
Tips for individualizing a nursing care plan:
- Detailed Assessment: Conduct a thorough initial and ongoing assessment to identify the patient’s unique physical, psychological, social, cultural, and spiritual needs.
- Patient Involvement: Actively involve the patient and their family in the care planning process. Their input is invaluable in understanding their preferences, values, and goals.
- Realistic Goals: Set achievable and realistic goals that are meaningful to the patient and aligned with their overall health objectives.
- Customized Interventions: Select nursing interventions that are specifically appropriate for the patient, considering their individual circumstances and preferences.
- Flexibility: Maintain flexibility in the care plan to adapt to the patient’s changing condition and needs over time.
- Regular Review: Regularly review and revise the care plan with the patient and healthcare team to ensure it remains relevant and effective.
Objectives of Nursing Care Plans
The primary goals and objectives of developing a nursing care plan are:
- Promote Evidence-Based Care: To ensure nursing care is grounded in the latest research and best practices, creating a comfortable and familiar environment within healthcare settings.
- Support Holistic Care: To address the patient as a whole person, encompassing their physical, psychological, social, and spiritual dimensions, in both disease management and prevention.
- Establish Care Programs: To create structured approaches to care, like care pathways and care bundles. Care pathways facilitate team consensus on care standards and expected outcomes, while care bundles focus on best practices for specific conditions.
- Define Goals and Outcomes: To clearly distinguish and articulate both broad goals and specific, measurable expected outcomes for patient care.
- Enhance Communication and Documentation: To improve the clarity and effectiveness of communication and documentation of the entire care planning process.
- Measure Nursing Care Effectiveness: To establish metrics for evaluating the quality and impact of nursing care delivered.
Purposes of a Nursing Care Plan
Nursing care plans serve several critical purposes, highlighting their importance in healthcare:
- Defines the Nurse’s Role: Care plans clarify the distinct and independent role of nurses in addressing patients’ comprehensive health and well-being, going beyond merely following physician orders.
- Provides Direction for Individualized Care: They act as a personalized roadmap, guiding nurses in delivering care tailored to each patient’s unique needs and encouraging critical thinking in developing targeted interventions.
- Ensures Continuity of Care: By providing a shared reference point, care plans enable nurses across different shifts and departments to deliver consistent, high-quality interventions, maximizing the benefits of treatment for patients.
- Coordinates Care Across Teams: Care plans ensure all members of the healthcare team are informed of the patient’s needs and the necessary actions, preventing fragmented care and promoting a unified approach.
- Facilitates Documentation: Care plans clearly outline essential observations, nursing actions, and patient/family instructions required. Accurate documentation in the care plan serves as evidence that care was provided.
- Guides Staff Assignment: In situations requiring specific skills, care plans help in assigning appropriately skilled staff to patients with complex needs.
- Monitors Patient Progress: Care plans enable the tracking of patient progress and facilitate necessary adjustments as the patient’s condition and goals evolve.
- Supports Reimbursement: Insurance providers utilize medical records, including care plans, to determine coverage and reimbursement for hospital care.
- Defines Patient Goals: Care plans empower both nurses and patients by involving them collaboratively in the treatment and care process, fostering patient ownership and engagement.
Components of a Nursing Care Plan
A comprehensive nursing care plan (NCP) typically includes several key components: nursing diagnoses, patient problems, expected outcomes, nursing interventions, and rationales. Let’s explore each of these in detail:
Care Plan Formats
Nursing care plans are often structured in formats that utilize columns to organize information. Common formats include three-column and four-column plans, with some institutions also using a five-column format.
Three-Column Format
The three-column format simplifies the care plan into: (1) Nursing Diagnosis, (2) Outcomes and Evaluation, and (3) Interventions. This format is concise and focuses on the essential elements of the care plan.
Three-column nursing care plan format
Four-Column Format
The four-column format expands on the three-column plan by separating outcomes and evaluation into distinct columns: (1) Nursing Diagnosis, (2) Goals and Outcomes, (3) Interventions, and (4) Evaluation. This provides a more detailed and structured approach.
Four-column nursing care plan template
For your convenience, we have sample templates available for download in various nursing care plan formats. Feel free to adapt and utilize these templates:
Download: Printable Nursing Care Plan Templates and Formats
Student Care Plans
Student care plans are characteristically more detailed and extensive than those used by practicing nurses. This is because they serve as a crucial learning tool for nursing students, helping them to develop a deep understanding of the care planning process.
Student nursing care plans are more detailed.
Often, student care plans are required to be handwritten and include an additional column for “Rationale” or “Scientific Explanation.” This rationale column is placed after the nursing interventions and serves to explain the scientific principles underpinning the chosen interventions, reinforcing the student’s understanding.
Writing a Nursing Care Plan: Step-by-Step
Creating an effective care plan for nursing diagnosis involves a systematic, multi-step process. Here’s a detailed guide to help you develop comprehensive care plans:
Step 1: Data Collection and Assessment
The initial step in crafting a nursing care plan is to build a comprehensive patient database through thorough assessment and data collection. This involves utilizing various methods like physical examinations, detailed health history interviews, reviews of medical records, and diagnostic studies. The patient database becomes a repository of all relevant health information gathered. This crucial step allows nurses to identify related or risk factors and defining characteristics that will be essential for formulating accurate nursing diagnoses. Many healthcare facilities and nursing schools provide specific assessment formats to guide this process, ensuring consistency and completeness.
Critical thinking is paramount during patient assessment. It’s about integrating knowledge from diverse scientific disciplines and professional guidelines to inform clinical judgments. This process, vital for complex clinical decision-making, aims to effectively identify patient healthcare needs, leveraging a supportive environment and reliable information.
Step 2: Data Analysis and Organization
Once you have compiled comprehensive patient data, the next step is to analyze, cluster, and organize this information. This analytical phase is crucial for identifying patterns, relationships, and potential health problems. By grouping related data points, you can begin to formulate your nursing diagnoses, prioritize patient needs, and define desired outcomes. This structured approach ensures that the care plan is focused and addresses the most pertinent patient issues effectively.
Step 3: Formulating Nursing Diagnoses
Nursing diagnoses are standardized statements that precisely identify, focus on, and address specific patient needs and responses to both actual and potential health problems. They represent health issues that can be prevented or resolved through independent nursing interventions. Formulating accurate nursing diagnoses is a cornerstone of effective care planning.
For a detailed guide on formulating nursing diagnoses, refer to our comprehensive resource: Nursing Diagnosis (NDx): Complete Guide and List.
Step 4: Setting Priorities
Prioritization is a critical step in nursing care planning. It involves establishing a preferential order for addressing nursing diagnoses and implementing interventions. In this phase, nurses collaborate with patients to determine which identified problems require immediate attention. Nursing diagnoses can be categorized by priority level—high, medium, or low. Life-threatening issues always take top priority.
A nursing diagnosis framework often incorporates Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, a psychological theory that prioritizes basic human needs. Introduced by Abraham Maslow in 1943, this hierarchy suggests that fundamental physiological needs must be met before higher-level needs, like self-esteem and self-actualization, can be addressed. Physiological and safety needs form the foundation of nursing care and interventions. They are at the base of Maslow’s pyramid, providing the bedrock for both physical and emotional well-being.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in Nursing Care:
- Basic Physiological Needs: These are the most fundamental needs for survival and include nutrition (water and food), elimination (toileting), airway (suctioning), breathing (oxygen), circulation (pulse, cardiac monitoring, blood pressure), sleep, sex, shelter, and exercise. In nursing, ensuring these needs are met is paramount.
- Safety and Security Needs: Once physiological needs are addressed, safety and security become priorities. This includes injury prevention (side rails, call lights, hand hygiene, isolation protocols, suicide precautions, fall prevention measures, car seats, helmets, seat belts), fostering a safe and trusting environment (therapeutic relationships), and patient education on modifiable risk factors (e.g., stroke, heart disease).
- Love and Belonging Needs: These social needs involve fostering supportive relationships, preventing social isolation (addressing bullying), employing active listening, therapeutic communication techniques, and supporting healthy sexual intimacy.
- Self-Esteem Needs: Self-esteem relates to feelings of acceptance within the community and workplace, personal achievement, a sense of control or empowerment, and acceptance of one’s body image. Nursing interventions can support these needs by encouraging patient participation in care and acknowledging their strengths.
- Self-Actualization Needs: This highest level involves reaching one’s full potential. Nursing can facilitate self-actualization by providing an empowering environment, supporting spiritual growth, and encouraging patients to recognize and consider diverse perspectives.
*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, beliefs, available resources, and the urgency of the situation. Involving the patient in this prioritization process is key to fostering cooperation and ensuring the care plan aligns with their personal values and preferences.
Step 5: Establishing Client Goals and Desired Outcomes
Following the prioritization of nursing diagnoses, the nurse and patient collaboratively set goals for each identified priority. Goals, or desired outcomes, are statements that describe the intended results of nursing interventions, derived directly from the patient’s nursing diagnoses. Goals provide direction for planning specific interventions, serve as benchmarks for evaluating patient progress, help both the patient and nurse determine when problems are resolved, and offer motivation through a sense of accomplishment.
Examples of goals and desired outcomes. Note their specific and measurable format.
For each nursing diagnosis, a primary, overarching goal is established. The terms “goal outcomes” and “expected outcomes” are often used interchangeably in practice.
Effective goals should adhere to the SMART criteria, as outlined by Hamilton and Price (2013):
- Specific: Goals should be clear, well-defined, and focused to ensure everyone understands what needs to be achieved.
- Measurable: Goals must be quantifiable or observable so progress can be tracked and achievement verified.
- Attainable: Goals should be realistic and achievable given the patient’s current condition, resources, and limitations.
- Realistic: Goals should be relevant to the patient’s needs and overall health objectives, ensuring they are meaningful and worthwhile.
- Time-Oriented: Each goal should have a defined timeframe for achievement, providing a sense of urgency and a target for evaluation.
Hogston (2011) recommends using the REEPIG standards to further ensure high-quality care plans:
- Realistic: Goals and interventions should be feasible within available resources, including staff, equipment, and time.
- Explicitly Stated: Care plan components should be clearly and precisely written to avoid ambiguity and ensure consistent interpretation.
- Evidence-Based: Interventions should be supported by current research and clinical best practices to ensure effectiveness.
- Prioritized: The care plan should clearly address the most urgent and critical patient needs first.
- Involve: The care planning process should actively involve the patient and all relevant members of the multidisciplinary healthcare team.
- Goal-Centered: All planned care activities should directly contribute to achieving the established patient goals.
Short-Term and Long-Term Goals
Goals and expected outcomes must be both measurable and patient-centered. They are formulated to address problem prevention, resolution, and rehabilitation. Goals can be classified as short-term or long-term, depending on the timeframe for achievement. In acute care settings, most goals are short-term, focusing on immediate patient needs. Long-term goals are more common for patients with chronic conditions or those in long-term care facilities or at home.
- Short-term goal: Describes a change in patient behavior or status expected to be achieved relatively quickly, typically within hours or a few days.
- Long-term goal: Indicates an objective expected to be met over a longer period, usually weeks or months, and often relates to rehabilitation or managing chronic conditions.
- Discharge planning: Primarily involves setting long-term goals, ensuring continued restorative care and problem resolution through home health services, physical therapy, or other community resources.
Components of Effective Goals and Desired Outcomes
Well-written goals and desired outcome statements typically have 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 part of the patient (e.g., leg, wound), or a patient attribute (e.g., pulse rate, temperature, urinary output). Often, the subject (patient) is implied unless the goal refers to a family member or significant other.
- Verb: The verb specifies the action the patient is expected to perform, learn, or experience (e.g., verbalize, demonstrate, walk).
- Conditions or Modifiers: These clarify the “what, when, where, or how” of the expected behavior, providing context to the verb.
- Criterion of Desired Performance: This sets the standard for evaluating performance or the level at which the patient should perform the behavior. Criteria are optional but add precision to goals.
Tips for writing effective goals and desired outcomes:
- Frame goals and outcomes in terms of patient responses, not nursing activities. Start each goal with “Client will […],” focusing on patient behavior and outcomes.
- Avoid stating goals as what the nurse hopes to achieve; instead, focus on what the patient will accomplish.
- Use observable, measurable terms for outcomes. Avoid vague language that requires subjective interpretation.
- Ensure desired outcomes are realistic given the patient’s resources, capabilities, limitations, and the expected duration of care.
- Verify that goals are consistent with other healthcare professionals’ therapies and plans.
- Ensure each goal is derived from only one nursing diagnosis to facilitate clear evaluation of care.
- Finally, confirm that the patient considers the goals important and values them to encourage their active participation and adherence.
Step 6: Selecting Nursing Interventions
Nursing interventions are the specific actions that nurses perform to help patients achieve their goals. Interventions should be chosen to address the root cause (etiology) of the prioritized nursing problem or diagnosis. For risk diagnoses, interventions should focus on reducing the patient’s risk factors. While 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 can be classified as independent, dependent, or collaborative:
Types of nursing interventions in a care plan.
- Independent nursing interventions are actions nurses are authorized to initiate based on their professional judgment and skills. These include ongoing assessments, providing emotional support, comfort measures, patient education, physical care, and referrals to other healthcare professionals.
- Dependent nursing interventions are carried out under the orders or supervision of a physician or other authorized healthcare provider. These typically include administering medications, intravenous therapy, performing diagnostic tests, providing specific treatments, and managing diet and activity levels. Nurses are also responsible for assessment and patient education related to these dependent interventions.
- Collaborative interventions are actions that nurses perform 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 diverse professional expertise into the patient’s care plan.
Effective nursing interventions should be:
- Safe and appropriate for the patient’s age, health status, and condition.
- Achievable with available resources, including time, staff, and equipment.
- Consistent with the patient’s values, cultural background, and beliefs.
- Compatible with other planned therapies and treatments.
- Based on established nursing knowledge, clinical experience, and relevant scientific evidence.
Tips for writing clear and effective nursing interventions:
- Date and sign the care plan to indicate when it was written and to establish accountability.
- Nursing interventions should be specific and clearly stated, beginning with an action verb that precisely describes what the nurse is to do. Include qualifiers specifying how, when, where, how long, how often, or how much. For example: “Educate parents on how to accurately measure temperature and report any changes” or “Assess urine characteristics, including color, amount, odor, and turbidity, every shift.”
- Use only standard abbreviations approved by your healthcare institution to ensure clarity and avoid miscommunication.
Step 7: Providing Rationales
Rationales, or scientific explanations, are crucial for student care plans. They justify why a particular nursing intervention was selected for the NCP.
Sample nursing interventions and rationale for a care plan (NCP)
Rationales typically are not included in routine professional care plans but are essential in educational settings. They help nursing students link pathophysiological and psychological principles to the nursing interventions, deepening their understanding of the underlying science of nursing practice.
Step 8: Evaluation
Evaluation is a systematic, ongoing, and purposeful process to assess the patient’s progress toward achieving the established goals and desired outcomes. It also measures the effectiveness of the nursing care plan itself. Evaluation is a fundamental component of the nursing process because its conclusions determine whether interventions should be continued, modified, or discontinued. This step ensures that the care plan remains dynamic and responsive to the patient’s evolving needs.
Step 9: Documentation
The final step is to document the patient’s care plan according to institutional policy. This documented care plan becomes a permanent part of the patient’s medical record, accessible for review by all members of the healthcare team, including oncoming nurses. Nursing programs often have specific formats for care plans, commonly using a five-column format that systematically guides students through the steps of the nursing process. Accurate and thorough documentation is essential for communication, continuity of care, and legal and reimbursement purposes.
Nursing Care Plan Examples List
This section provides a comprehensive list of sample nursing care plans (NCPs) and nursing diagnoses categorized by medical specialty for easy reference.
Basic Nursing and General Care Plans
General nursing care plans applicable across various settings:
| 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 specific to 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 for cardiovascular system disorders:
| 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
Care plans for endocrine 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
Care plans addressing disorders of the gastrointestinal 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
Care plans related to the hematologic and lymphatic systems:
| 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 Care Plans
Care plans 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 Care Plans
Care plans for disorders 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
Care plans for maternal and newborn 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
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
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 Care Plans
Care plans for 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
Care plans for eye disorders:
| Ophthalmic Care Plans |
|---|
| Cataracts |
| Glaucoma |
| Macular Degeneration |
Pediatric Nursing Care Plans
Care plans 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
Care plans for reproductive and sexual function disorders:
| Reproductive Care Plans |
|---|
| Cryptorchidism (Undescended Testes) |
| Hysterectomy |
| Hypospadias and Epispadias |
| Mastectomy |
| Menopause |
| Prostatectomy |
Respiratory Care Plans
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
Care plans for 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 for Nursing Care Plans
Explore these recommended resources for further study and practical application of nursing care plans.
Disclosure: The following are affiliate links from Amazon. As an affiliate, we may earn a small commission from your purchase, at no additional cost to you. For more details, please review our privacy policy.
Ackley and Ladwig’s Nursing Diagnosis Handbook: An Evidence-Based Guide to Planning Care
This handbook stands out for its evidence-based approach to nursing interventions. It offers a straightforward, three-step system to guide you through patient assessment, nursing diagnosis, and care plan development. It includes detailed instructions on implementing care and evaluating outcomes, enhancing your diagnostic reasoning and critical thinking skills.
Nursing Care Plans – Nursing Diagnosis & Intervention (10th Edition)
This comprehensive resource features over two hundred care plans, updated with the latest evidence-based guidelines. This edition includes new ICNP diagnoses, care plans addressing LGBTQ health issues, and expanded content on electrolytes and acid-base balance.
Nurse’s Pocket Guide: Diagnoses, Prioritized Interventions, and Rationales
This quick-reference guide provides essential information for accurate diagnoses and efficient care planning. The 16th edition features the most current nursing diagnoses and interventions, with an alphabetized listing covering over 400 disorders.
Nursing Diagnosis Manual: Planning, Individualizing, and Documenting Client Care
This manual assists in identifying appropriate interventions for planning, personalizing, and documenting care for over 800 diseases and disorders. For each diagnosis, it uniquely provides subjective and objective data, sample clinical applications, prioritized actions/interventions with rationales, and dedicated documentation sections, among other features.
All-in-One Nursing Care Planning Resource – E-Book: Medical-Surgical, Pediatric, Maternity, and Psychiatric-Mental Health
This e-book provides over 100 care plans across medical-surgical, maternity/OB, pediatrics, and psychiatric-mental health settings. Its interprofessional “patient problems” approach helps you effectively communicate with patients across different disciplines.
References and Sources
List of original article references and sources would be placed here if explicitly provided in the original article. In this case, the original article does not list specific references beyond links within the text.
