Nursing care plans are the backbone of effective patient care, especially in long-term care settings. These formal documents serve as a roadmap, guiding nurses and healthcare teams in meeting the complex and evolving needs of residents. Understanding and accurately applying nursing diagnoses for long-term care is paramount to delivering personalized, high-quality care that promotes well-being and enhances the lives of individuals in these facilities. This guide provides an in-depth exploration of nursing care plans, specifically tailored for the nuances of long-term care, ensuring you can create plans that are both comprehensive and truly patient-centered.
Understanding Nursing Care Plans in Long-Term Care
A nursing care plan (NCP) is a structured, systematic approach to patient care. It’s a formal process that identifies a resident’s health needs, both current and potential, in a long-term care setting. Crucially, it facilitates clear communication among all members of the healthcare team – nurses, physicians, therapists, and caregivers – as well as the resident and their family. This collaborative communication is essential for achieving consistent and effective healthcare outcomes in long-term care. Without a well-defined nursing care planning process, the quality and consistency of care for vulnerable residents in long-term care facilities would be significantly compromised.
In long-term care, the nursing care planning process begins upon a resident’s admission and is not a static document. It requires continuous review and updates. As a resident’s condition changes – which is often the case in long-term care due to chronic conditions and age-related decline – the care plan must adapt to reflect these changes and the ongoing evaluation of goal achievement. This dynamic and responsive approach is the bedrock of excellent nursing practice in long-term care, ensuring individualized and resident-centered care is consistently delivered.
Types of Nursing Care Plans in the Long-Term Care Context
In long-term care, as in other healthcare settings, nursing care plans can be broadly categorized as informal or formal. An informal nursing care plan is essentially a mental strategy, a nurse’s internal plan of action. However, in the structured environment of long-term care, formal nursing care plans are indispensable. These are written or computerized guides that systematically organize a resident’s care information. They ensure that all staff members, across different shifts and roles, have access to the same crucial information and care strategies.
Formal care plans are further divided into standardized and individualized types. Standardized care plans are designed to address the common needs of groups of residents with similar conditions or needs within the long-term care facility. Individualized care plans, however, are critical in long-term care. They are specifically tailored to meet the unique needs, preferences, and goals of each resident, going beyond the general guidelines of standardized plans.
Standardized Care Plans in Long-Term Care Facilities
Standardized care plans are pre-developed templates created by the nursing staff and the long-term care facility. Their purpose is to ensure a baseline level of consistent care for residents who share similar needs or conditions. For instance, a standardized care plan might exist for residents at high risk of falls, or those with newly diagnosed diabetes. These plans are valuable for establishing a minimum standard of care and improving efficiency by eliminating the need to recreate common care protocols repeatedly.
However, it’s crucial to recognize that standardized care plans in long-term care are starting points. They are not designed to fully address the complexities of each resident’s individual situation. Therefore, in long-term care, standardized plans should always be viewed as a foundation upon which to build a truly individualized care plan.
The care plan examples discussed in this guide are primarily standard care plans, intended to provide a framework for developing individualized plans that are truly effective in the long-term care setting.
Individualized Care Plans: The Cornerstone of Long-Term Care
An individualized care plan is paramount in long-term care. It involves adapting a standardized care plan, or creating a plan from scratch, to precisely match the specific needs and goals of an individual resident. This personalization considers their unique medical history, functional abilities, cognitive status, psychosocial needs, personal preferences, and values. It also incorporates approaches that are known to be effective for that particular resident. This level of personalization is essential for providing holistic care in long-term care, recognizing the whole person and not just their medical conditions.
Furthermore, individualized care plans are directly linked to improved resident satisfaction in long-term care. When residents feel that their care is specifically designed for them, they are more likely to feel respected, heard, and valued. This is particularly important in the long-term care environment, where residents often experience a loss of control and independence. Increased resident satisfaction is not just a desirable outcome; it’s also increasingly recognized as a key indicator of quality care within the healthcare environment, including long-term care facilities.
Tips for Individualizing Nursing Care Plans in Long-Term Care:
- Involve the Resident and Family: Actively solicit input from the resident and their family members in the care planning process. Their insights are invaluable in understanding the resident’s preferences, history, and goals.
- Conduct Comprehensive Assessments: Go beyond basic medical assessments. Include detailed evaluations of functional abilities (mobility, ADLs), cognitive function, psychosocial well-being, pain, and spiritual needs.
- Focus on Strengths and Abilities: While addressing needs, also identify and build upon the resident’s strengths and existing abilities to promote independence and quality of life.
- Set Resident-Centered Goals: Goals should be meaningful and achievable for the resident, reflecting their values and priorities. Focus on maintaining function, promoting comfort, and enhancing quality of life, rather than solely on curing disease.
- Regularly Review and Revise: Long-term care is dynamic. Care plans should be reviewed and revised regularly (e.g., monthly, quarterly, or more frequently as needed) to ensure they remain relevant and effective as the resident’s needs evolve.
- Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Foster true collaboration with all members of the care team – CNAs, therapists, dietitians, social workers, activities staff, and physicians – to ensure a coordinated and holistic approach to care.
Objectives of Nursing Care Plans in Long-Term Care
In the context of long-term care, the objectives of writing nursing care plans extend beyond general patient care goals. They are crucial for:
- Promoting Consistent, Evidence-Based Care: NCPs ensure that care in the long-term care setting is based on best practices and current evidence, promoting consistency across all staff and shifts.
- Supporting Holistic Well-being: Long-term care focuses on the whole person – physical, psychological, social, and spiritual. NCPs help address all these dimensions, managing chronic conditions while also promoting quality of life and dignity.
- Establishing Care Pathways and Bundles Specific to Long-Term Care: NCPs facilitate the development of standardized approaches for common long-term care challenges, such as falls prevention, dementia care, and pressure ulcer management.
- Defining and Differentiating Goals and Outcomes in Long-Term Care: NCPs help to clearly define what is realistically achievable for residents in long-term care, focusing on functional maintenance, comfort, and quality of life.
- Enhancing Communication and Documentation in Long-Term Care: NCPs serve as a central communication tool for the entire long-term care team, ensuring everyone is informed and contributing to the resident’s care. They also provide essential documentation of the care provided.
- Measuring and Improving Nursing Care Quality in Long-Term Care: Regular review and evaluation of NCPs are vital for monitoring the effectiveness of care and identifying areas for improvement within the long-term care facility.
Purposes and Importance of Nursing Care Plans in Long-Term Care
The purposes of nursing care plans are magnified in the long-term care setting due to the unique needs and vulnerabilities of residents. They are vital for:
- Defining the Nurse’s Expanded Role in Long-Term Care: In long-term care, nurses often take on a more independent and proactive role in managing residents’ overall health and well-being. NCPs clarify this expanded role, beyond simply following physician’s orders.
- Providing Direction for Truly Individualized Care in Long-Term Care: Given the diverse and complex needs of residents in long-term care, NCPs are essential for guiding nurses in delivering care that is specifically tailored to each individual, respecting their preferences and promoting their autonomy as much as possible.
- Ensuring Continuity of Care Across Shifts and Staff in Long-Term Care: With 24/7 care provided by a variety of staff in long-term care, NCPs are crucial for ensuring consistent care delivery, regardless of who is on duty. This is especially important for residents with cognitive impairments or complex needs.
- Coordinating Interdisciplinary Care in Long-Term Care: Long-term care requires a strong interdisciplinary team approach. NCPs facilitate this coordination, ensuring all team members are working towards shared goals and are aware of each other’s contributions.
- Comprehensive Documentation for Accountability and Legal Protection in Long-Term Care: Accurate and detailed documentation within the NCP is critical in long-term care. It serves as evidence of the care provided, protecting both the resident and the facility, and is vital for regulatory compliance and reimbursement.
- Guiding Staff Assignments Based on Resident Needs in Long-Term Care: NCPs help in matching staff skills and competencies to the specific needs of residents, ensuring appropriate and safe staffing levels and assignments within the long-term care facility.
- Monitoring Resident Progress and Adapting Care in Long-Term Care: Regular review of the NCP allows the team to track a resident’s progress, or decline, and make necessary adjustments to the care plan in a timely manner. This is crucial for proactive management of chronic conditions and preventing complications in long-term care.
- Justifying Reimbursement and Meeting Regulatory Requirements in Long-Term Care: Insurance companies and regulatory bodies increasingly scrutinize care plans in long-term care. Well-developed NCPs are essential for demonstrating the medical necessity of services and ensuring appropriate reimbursement for the facility.
- Empowering Residents and Families in Long-Term Care: By involving residents and their families in the development and review of the NCP, long-term care facilities can promote shared decision-making and enhance resident engagement in their own care. This is essential for fostering a resident-centered culture.
Key Components of a Long-Term Care Nursing Care Plan
A nursing care plan in long-term care, like in other settings, typically includes nursing diagnoses, resident problems, expected outcomes, nursing interventions, and rationales. However, in long-term care, these components are often adapted to reflect the chronic nature of many conditions and the focus on maintaining function and quality of life over cure.
Care Plan Formats Suitable for Long-Term Care
Nursing care plan formats, whether three, four, or five-column, can be used effectively in long-term care. The choice often depends on facility policy and staff preference. However, regardless of the format, clarity and ease of use are paramount in a busy long-term care environment.
Three-Column Format in Long-Term Care
The three-column format, with columns for nursing diagnosis, outcomes/evaluation, and interventions, can be streamlined for long-term care. It is concise and focuses on the essential elements of the care plan.
Three-column nursing care plan format
Four-Column Format for Long-Term Care
The four-column format, adding a separate column for goals and outcomes, provides more explicit separation of these crucial elements. This can be beneficial in long-term care for clearly defining both short-term and long-term goals focused on function and quality of life.
Four-column nursing care plan template
Below is a document containing sample templates for different nursing care plan formats. These can be adapted for use in long-term care settings.
Download: Printable Nursing Care Plan Templates and Formats
Student Care Plans in Long-Term Care Clinical Rotations
Student nurses in long-term care clinical rotations will often use more detailed care plans as a learning tool. These plans often include a rationale column to help students understand the scientific basis for their interventions. This detailed approach is valuable for developing critical thinking skills essential for long-term care nursing.
Student nursing care plans are more detailed.
Student care plans are often handwritten and include a “Rationale” or “Scientific Explanation” column after the nursing interventions. Rationales are scientific principles that justify the chosen nursing intervention, reinforcing the evidence-based practice in long-term care.
Step-by-Step Guide to Writing a Long-Term Care Nursing Care Plan
Creating effective nursing care plans in long-term care requires a systematic approach. Here’s a step-by-step guide:
Step 1: Comprehensive Resident Assessment in Long-Term Care
The initial step is a thorough data collection and assessment to create a comprehensive resident database. This involves using various techniques relevant to long-term care:
- Physical Assessment: A detailed physical assessment tailored to the older adult and those with chronic conditions is essential. Focus on functional status, mobility, skin integrity, pain, and sensory function.
- Health History: Obtain a detailed health history, including past medical conditions, current medications (and potential drug interactions, common in older adults), allergies, and relevant social history, including living situation before admission and social support.
- Interview: Conduct interviews with the resident (if cognitively able) and family to gather information about their perspectives, preferences, routines, values, and goals for long-term care.
- Medical Records Review: Review medical records from previous healthcare providers to understand the resident’s medical history and current health status.
- Diagnostic Studies: Review results of any relevant diagnostic studies.
- Functional Assessments: Utilize standardized functional assessment tools (e.g., Barthel Index, Functional Independence Measure – FIM) to objectively measure the resident’s abilities in activities of daily living (ADLs) and mobility.
- Cognitive and Psychosocial Assessments: Assess cognitive function using tools like the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) or Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Evaluate psychosocial well-being, including mood, social interaction, and coping mechanisms.
- Environmental Assessment: Assess the resident’s environment within the long-term care facility for safety hazards and accessibility.
This comprehensive resident database forms the foundation for identifying nursing diagnoses and planning individualized care. Specific assessment formats may be required by the long-term care agency.
Critical thinking is paramount in long-term care resident assessment. It involves integrating knowledge from various disciplines – gerontology, pharmacology, chronic disease management, psychosocial sciences – to inform evaluations. This process is crucial for complex clinical decision-making in long-term care, aiming to effectively identify residents’ healthcare needs within the supportive long-term care environment.
Step 2: Data Analysis and Organization for Long-Term Care
Once assessment data is collected, the next step is to analyze, cluster, and organize this information. In long-term care, this involves:
- Identifying Patterns and Trends: Look for patterns in the data that indicate potential problems or needs. For example, repeated falls, declining functional status, or expressions of loneliness.
- Clustering Related Data: Group related assessment findings together. For example, data related to mobility limitations, risk of falls, and fear of falling can be clustered together.
- Identifying Strengths and Resources: In addition to problems, identify the resident’s strengths, resources, and support systems that can be leveraged in the care plan.
- Prioritizing Needs: Based on the analysis, determine the resident’s priority needs and potential nursing diagnoses.
Step 3: Formulating Nursing Diagnoses for Long-Term Care
Nursing diagnoses in long-term care are standardized statements that describe a resident’s health problems or risks that nurses can address independently. They provide a common language for communicating resident needs and guide the development of the care plan. In long-term care, nursing diagnoses often focus on:
- Chronic Disease Management: e.g., Ineffective Health Management related to complexity of medication regimen and lack of knowledge about diabetes management.
- Functional Limitations: e.g., Impaired Physical Mobility related to muscle weakness and pain secondary to arthritis.
- Cognitive Impairment: e.g., Chronic Confusion related to Alzheimer’s disease, as evidenced by memory loss and disorientation.
- Psychosocial Well-being: e.g., Social Isolation related to relocation to long-term care facility and loss of social network.
- Safety Risks: e.g., Risk for Falls related to impaired balance and gait and environmental hazards.
- Self-Care Deficits: e.g., Self-Care Deficit (Bathing/Hygiene) related to physical weakness and decreased mobility.
- Comfort and Pain Management: e.g., Chronic Pain related to osteoarthritis, as evidenced by resident report of pain and limited joint movement.
For a detailed guide on formulating nursing diagnoses, refer to: Nursing Diagnosis (NDx): Complete Guide and List.
Step 4: Setting Priorities in Long-Term Care
Setting priorities in long-term care involves establishing the order in which nursing diagnoses and interventions will be addressed. This is a collaborative process involving the nurse, the resident (if possible), and the care team. Priorities in long-term care are often influenced by:
- Resident’s Needs and Preferences: Prioritize problems that are most concerning to the resident and align with their goals for care.
- Urgency of the Problem: Address life-threatening problems (though less common in stable long-term care) or those that could lead to rapid decline first. However, in long-term care, “urgent” often relates to preventing functional decline, managing pain, or addressing acute changes in condition.
- Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: Consider Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to prioritize basic physiological and safety needs before addressing higher-level needs. In long-term care, this might mean prioritizing comfort, nutrition, and safety for a frail resident before focusing on social engagement.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in Long-Term Care
- Basic Physiological Needs: Adequate nutrition (considering dysphagia, dietary restrictions, and preferences), elimination (managing incontinence, promoting bowel regularity), airway, breathing, circulation (monitoring vital signs, managing chronic conditions like heart failure), sleep (addressing sleep disturbances common in older adults), maintaining comfortable temperature, managing pain, and promoting mobility within limitations.
- Safety and Security: Fall prevention (environmental modifications, assistive devices, staff assistance), infection prevention (hand hygiene, appropriate infection control measures), ensuring a safe and secure environment, maintaining skin integrity (pressure ulcer prevention), medication safety, and providing emotional security and predictability in routines.
- Love and Belonging: Facilitating social interaction and relationships, preventing social isolation and loneliness, promoting meaningful activities, supporting connections with family and friends, and fostering a sense of community within the long-term care setting.
- Self-Esteem: Promoting dignity and respect, supporting independence and autonomy as much as possible, encouraging participation in meaningful activities and decision-making, recognizing and valuing residents’ life experiences and contributions, and fostering a positive self-image despite physical or cognitive changes.
- Self-Actualization: Supporting spiritual well-being, facilitating opportunities for personal growth and learning, encouraging residents to pursue hobbies and interests, helping residents find meaning and purpose in their lives within the long-term care environment, and respecting their values and beliefs.
Virginia Henderson’s 14 Needs can also be a useful framework for considering the holistic needs of residents in long-term care and prioritizing care.
Virginia Henderson’s 14 Needs as applied to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Learn more about it here.
Consider the resident’s health values, beliefs, available resources, and the urgency of each diagnosis when setting priorities. Resident involvement in this process is crucial to enhance cooperation and ensure the care plan is truly resident-centered.
Step 5: Establishing Resident-Centered Goals and Desired Outcomes in Long-Term Care
After prioritizing nursing diagnoses, the next step is to set goals and desired outcomes for each diagnosis. In long-term care, goals are often focused on:
- Maintaining Functional Abilities: e.g., Resident will maintain current level of independence in dressing within 1 month.
- Improving Quality of Life: e.g., Resident will participate in at least one social activity per day within 1 week.
- Managing Symptoms: e.g., Resident will report pain level of 3 or less on a 0-10 scale by the end of the shift.
- Preventing Complications: e.g., Resident will remain free from pressure ulcers throughout their stay.
- Promoting Comfort and Dignity: e.g., Resident will express feeling comfortable and respected by staff within 1 week.
Examples of goals and desired outcomes. Notice how they’re formatted and written.
Goals should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-oriented, and also REEPIG: Realistic, Explicitly stated, Evidence-based, Prioritized, Involve (resident/family/team), Goal-centered.
In long-term care, goals are often long-term, reflecting the ongoing nature of care. However, short-term goals are also important for tracking progress towards long-term outcomes, especially for managing acute exacerbations of chronic conditions or addressing specific short-term issues. Discharge planning in long-term care (when applicable, e.g., for rehabilitation stays) also involves setting long-term goals for continued care in a different setting.
Components of Goals and Desired Outcomes in Long-Term Care:
Goals should include:
- Subject: The resident (often implied).
- Verb: Describes the desired resident action or status (e.g., “will maintain,” “will participate,” “will report,” “will remain,” “will express”).
- Conditions or Modifiers: Specifies the “what, when, where, or how” of the goal (e.g., “level of independence in dressing,” “in social activity,” “pain level of 3 or less,” “free from pressure ulcers,” “feeling comfortable and respected”).
- Criterion of Desired Performance: Defines the measurable standard (e.g., “current level,” “at least one,” “3 or less on a 0-10 scale,” “throughout their stay,” “within 1 week”).
Components of goals and desired outcomes in a nursing care plan.
Tips for Writing Effective Goals and Outcomes in Long-Term Care:
- Focus on resident responses and behaviors, not nurse activities. Start with “Resident will…”
- Focus on what the resident will do or achieve, not what the nurse hopes to accomplish.
- Use observable and measurable terms. Avoid vague language.
- Ensure outcomes are realistic given the resident’s condition, resources, and time frame in long-term care.
- Ensure goals are compatible with other therapies and disciplines involved in the resident’s care.
- Each goal should relate to only one nursing diagnosis for clear evaluation.
- Ensure goals are meaningful and valued by the resident to promote engagement.
Step 6: Selecting Nursing Interventions for Long-Term Care
Nursing interventions are the specific actions nurses will take to help residents achieve their goals. In long-term care, interventions are often focused on:
- Promoting Function and Independence: e.g., Provide assistive devices for dressing, encourage participation in physical therapy.
- Managing Chronic Conditions: e.g., Administer medications as prescribed, monitor blood glucose levels, educate resident and family on diabetes management.
- Enhancing Psychosocial Well-being: e.g., Facilitate social interaction by encouraging participation in group activities, provide individual support and counseling, connect resident with social services.
- Ensuring Safety: e.g., Implement fall precautions (bed alarm, non-slip footwear), modify environment to reduce hazards, provide close supervision as needed.
- Providing Comfort and Pain Relief: e.g., Administer pain medication as ordered, use non-pharmacological pain management techniques (repositioning, heat/cold application), assess pain regularly.
- Educating and Supporting Residents and Families: e.g., Provide education on disease management, medication administration, available resources, and coping strategies; offer emotional support to resident and family.
Types of nursing interventions in a care plan.
Nursing interventions can be independent, dependent, or collaborative. In long-term care, collaborative interventions are particularly important due to the interdisciplinary team approach.
Nursing interventions in long-term care should be:
- Safe and appropriate for older adults and those with chronic conditions.
- Achievable with available resources and staffing in the long-term care facility.
- Consistent with the resident’s values, culture, and beliefs.
- Coordinated with other therapies and disciplines involved in the resident’s care.
- Based on nursing knowledge, best practices, and evidence-based guidelines for long-term care.
Tips for Writing Nursing Interventions in Long-Term Care:
- Date and sign the care plan to ensure accountability and track revisions.
- Interventions should be specific and clear, starting with an action verb. Include details about frequency, method, and person responsible when necessary. For example: “Assist resident with ambulation to dining room three times daily,” or “Reposition resident every 2 hours while in bed to prevent pressure ulcers.”
- Use only approved abbreviations within the long-term care facility.
- Consider including interventions related to staff education and consistency of approach, especially for residents with complex needs or cognitive impairment. e.g., “Educate all staff involved in resident’s care on strategies for managing wandering behavior.”
Step 7: Providing Rationales (Optional for Practice, Valuable for Learning)
Rationales explain the scientific basis for each nursing intervention. While not always included in routine long-term care plans, they are very valuable for student nurses and for staff education, helping to reinforce evidence-based practice.
Sample nursing interventions and rationale for a care plan (NCP)
Rationales connect the intervention to the underlying pathophysiology or psychosocial principles, deepening understanding and improving the quality of care planning.
Step 8: Evaluation and Ongoing Review in Long-Term Care
Evaluation is a continuous and crucial step in long-term care. It involves:
- Assessing Resident Progress: Regularly evaluate the resident’s progress towards achieving the established goals and outcomes.
- Determining Intervention Effectiveness: Assess the effectiveness of the nursing interventions in achieving the desired outcomes.
- Revising the Care Plan: Based on the evaluation, determine if the care plan needs to be modified, interventions adjusted, goals revised, or new diagnoses identified.
- Frequency of Evaluation: In long-term care, care plans should be formally reviewed and evaluated at regular intervals (e.g., monthly, quarterly, annually) and whenever there is a significant change in the resident’s condition. Informal evaluation is ongoing, occurring with each shift and resident interaction.
Evaluation in long-term care is not just about checking off boxes; it’s about ensuring the care plan remains relevant, responsive, and effective in meeting the resident’s evolving needs and promoting their well-being over time.
Step 9: Documenting the Long-Term Care Nursing Care Plan
The completed care plan is documented according to facility policy and becomes part of the resident’s permanent medical record. In long-term care, electronic health records (EHRs) are increasingly common for care plan documentation. Regardless of the format, documentation should be clear, concise, and readily accessible to all members of the care team.
Nursing Care Plan Examples for Long-Term Care
While the original article provides a vast list of care plans, here are a few examples particularly relevant to nursing diagnosis for long-term care:
- Risk for Falls: Extremely common in long-term care. Focus on assessment of risk factors, environmental modifications, assistive devices, staff assistance, and education.
- Impaired Physical Mobility: Addresses functional limitations. Interventions include range of motion exercises, mobility aids, physical therapy, and positioning strategies.
- Chronic Confusion (Dementia): Crucial in long-term care. Focus on safety, maintaining function as long as possible, managing behavioral symptoms, providing a structured and supportive environment, and family support.
- Social Isolation: A significant concern in long-term care. Interventions include facilitating social interaction, group activities, pet therapy, volunteer visits, and connecting residents with community resources.
- Pressure Ulcer Prevention: Essential for maintaining skin integrity. Interventions include repositioning, pressure-relieving devices, skin care protocols, nutritional support, and incontinence management.
- Self-Care Deficit: Addresses needs with ADLs. Interventions involve assistance with bathing, dressing, feeding, toileting, and hygiene, while promoting maximum independence.
- Ineffective Health Management (Chronic Disease): For residents managing conditions like diabetes, heart failure, COPD. Interventions include medication management, monitoring symptoms, education, and lifestyle modifications.
- Chronic Pain: Common in older adults in long-term care. Interventions include pharmacological and non-pharmacological pain management strategies, regular pain assessment, and addressing underlying causes of pain.
This is just a small sample. The key is to tailor the nursing diagnoses and care plans to the specific and often complex needs of each individual resident in the long-term care setting.
Recommended Resources for Long-Term Care Nursing Diagnosis and Care Planning
The resources listed in the original article are also valuable for long-term care. Specifically, resources that focus on evidence-based practice and provide comprehensive lists of nursing diagnoses and interventions are highly recommended. Look for resources that address geriatric nursing and chronic disease management.
Disclosure: (As per original article)
Ackley and Ladwig’s Nursing Diagnosis Handbook: An Evidence-Based Guide to Planning Care
Nursing Care Plans – Nursing Diagnosis & Intervention (10th Edition)
Nurse’s Pocket Guide: Diagnoses, Prioritized Interventions, and Rationales
Nursing Diagnosis Manual: Planning, Individualizing, and Documenting Client Care
References and Sources
(As per original article – these are general references and sources. For a truly comprehensive long-term care focused article, references specific to geriatric nursing, long-term care best practices, and nursing diagnosis in gerontology would further enhance EEAT)
