How many care plans do you do?

bluesky, BSN, RN · Dec 2, 2003

I would say the average for my program is about 4/semester. We do them only for clinical and overall they are not taken too seriously by the instructors. THANK GOD for that! The content sounds similar to yours (minus pathophys which we do separately as flow sheets). For psych we had to do teaching plans too.

Not to go off on an unwelcome (and probably oft revisited) tangent, BUT, everyone I know finds these exercises tedious and virtually useless. I can see where if a student really needed help with pathophys or critical thinking how it would help, maybe, but NANDA diagnoses were clearly developed by someone who was stealing narcs from the pyxis.

Well, that's my 2+ cents worth, anyway. Sorry you have to deal with all that extra work!

Love-A-Nurse · Dec 2, 2003

i am taking a break now from preparing for clinical tomorrow. after returning from getting my assisgnment for tomorrow, it was noted on our assignment sheet that we had one more to do besides the one two weeks ago [which is completed] prior to thanksgiving break. this is my last week of clincal for this semester. we do one per week and it takes hours to complete.

another hour or so to prepare for my patient this week, and i am off to bed.

colleen10 · Dec 2, 2003

I'm in my first semester at a local CC.

We have completed 3 care plans this semester.

We have to go in the night before clinical and get our patient assignment and be prepared to care for that person the following day. Must write down the patient hx, medical diagnosis, all meds and their generic name, what they are used for, contraindications and side effects.

Our 1st care plan was due the week after we cared for the patient.

Our second was a fictional patient. Our instructor gave us a short description and history on a patient and we had to come up with a care plan. This was helpful because we discussed our care plans in class and it allowed all the students to see various points of view on the same person and how we would each differently treat a person.

Our third care plan was part of a huge long patient assessment. We had to complete a 20 page patient assessment by the end of the semester to meet a school requirement. It was a complete patient history, etc. and then the last part of it was to complete a care plan on the patient.

Our care plans only cover Nursing Diagnosis, Intervention, Rationale for the intervention and how it will be evaluated. So far we have not done any care maps, etc.

LydiaGreen · Dec 2, 2003

Originally posted by SC RN
There is so much discussion about care plans and such on here that I was wondering how many care plans (and what is involved) do you do each semester?

We have to do one a week ... the care plan ends up being about 15 pages long and includes an organizational sheet for care; a concept map on the diagnosis; etiology, manifestations and diagnostic tests; medications, yes, all of them, even prn, with EVERY SINGLE bit of info that can possibly pertain to that med; three NANDA's with goals, outcomes, actions and evaluations; all labs and pathophysiology on the abnormals; narrative assessements and patho on the abnormal; rationale for all abnormal labs and assessements; and a whole bunch of other stuff. This is all due the same week as the care was given.

Another program 30 minutes from mine does only two care plans per semester ... and they don't have to go in the night before clinical to prepare. Sometimes I wonder why I chose this program? Eeks!!

We did the same thing only it was one care plan per patient (we averaged three patients each). This semester, Thank God, we are allowed to use the computerized care plans and individualize them to our clients... MUCH EASIER. This semester however, is our final semester. I hated careplans at first to, the tedious work involved in them. But, you have to put in the grunt work on the careplans to understand what the heck you are doing later on. Now, I appreciate the work that I put in on those careplans. Believe it or not!

jenrninmi, MSN, RN · Dec 2, 2003

I'm in my second clinical semester and we only have 2 to complete this semester. We also don't go in the night before to find out who our patient is. We get that info the same morning. I like the way my program does it. ;O)

jenrninmi, MSN, RN · Dec 2, 2003

"Our third care plan was part of a huge long patient assessment. We had to complete a 20 page patient assessment by the end of the semester to meet a school requirement. It was a complete patient history, etc. and then the last part of it was to complete a care plan on the patient. " One of our care plans was the same. My care plans also included home visits, history yada yada yada. And again it was two this semester.

SC RN, RN · Dec 2, 2003

Sounds like there's a lot of variation in care plans. I can't say that I don't see their worth but sometimes it's hard to deal with staying up all night to look up 25 meds for the next days patient! Arrgghhh!!

proud2basn · Dec 2, 2003

my programs care plans consist of:

Diagnoses

Allergies

Home meds

basic needs assessment, about 10 pages worth of questions

Stage of growth & development

Significance of diagnostic tests

Textbook data on the primary diagnosis(def. etiology, pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, medical & nursing interventions)

definition of secondary diagnosis

all labs (Hematology, Serum electolytes, urinalysis, C & S) & significance of the results

Information on all meds (name, generic, classifications, primary action, side effects, nursing actions, reason for administration)

3 NANDA nursing diagnoses (Outcome criteria, interventions, rationale, evaluation)

Focus charting

whatever else our instructor thinks we need to have

It sounds like a lot but it is really not that bad. It takes about 7-8 hours to do, and ends up being about 25 pages long. I really don't mind doing them, in fact I kind of enjoy them! I know, I am weird. :roll I can't help it, I have no life!

We go the morning of clinicals and get all of our information and our patient assignments. Our clinical day is Tuesday and our care plans are due Friday at 9 am. We do a care plan for every clinical. Just remember, whatever doesn't kill you in the nursing program will make you stronger(and a better nurse)!

shannon8282 · Dec 3, 2003

I am finishing my first semester in an ADN program, and I have had to do 6 care plans. The care plan is 22 pages long, and I have to do 5 NANDA diagnoses. In addition to that, we do ALL medications, and 3 medical diagnoses cards per patient. And on top of that we had a witch of an instructor that graded very tough. (I'm so glad I made it!):roll