Schools without careplans

Purple25 · May 5, 2007

Careplans are a pain, but a necessary evil. In the long run it helps you think better on your feet and to anticipate interventions you will implement. My first and second semester I hated them because I did not understand them fully. By 3rd and 4th semester when I understood how to do them it was better. Still took up time but better.

maolin · May 5, 2007

Care plans don't go away once you finish nursing school. While they aren't as time consuming or necessarily as detailed - every pt still have a nursing plan of care initiated. At my hospital it's point and click problems and the related interventions are automatically put into the plan. Each of the interventions are scheduled and signed off qshift.

Some schools are using concept maps rather than care plans, but the idea is pretty much the same. X med diagnosis will have X, X and X nursing diagnosis/problems, which will have Y, Y & Y interventions needed to acheive Z outcome.

Best get used to being beat over the head with them - it's all part of the job. Just like incontenence care & administering medications. It's what drives our actions.

Best of luck to you!

CHATSDALE · May 5, 2007

you need a map to get where you are going

when i was in grade school i hated diagramming a sentence but i learned a lot about how a sentence is built

bad analogy because you don't diagram a sentence after you finish school but just consider them a necessary evil

Jolie, BSN · May 5, 2007

I agree with the others that while careplans seem like a huge PIA to nursing students, they are important for developing critical thinking and assessment skills.

I also agree that their use in the "real world" differs quite a bit from that in nursing school, but that doesn't negate their importance as a learning tool.

Nursing school without careplans makes about as much sense as nursing school without clinicals.

suzanne4, RN · May 5, 2007

and if you find a school that does not require the care plans.......or care much about them:

run from there.

care plans come in all sizes and forms. and even if you work the or, or even emergency dept, you are still going to be using the care plan in your care of patient. and i am seeing them more frequently being used, not a slow down in their usage.

if you learn how to do them the right way the first time, it will actually hlep you tremendously in school, and when you get out. you will learn how to prioritize appropriately, and that is actually what nclex is looking for in the exam.

trust me, it will get easier for you to do.

meandragonbrett · May 5, 2007

After you do 50 of them or so, you can crank them out in no time.

BoonersmomRN · May 5, 2007

After you do 50 of them or so, you can crank them out in no time.

A-MEN to that. I cranked my last one out in less than 20 minutes- 2 semesters ago that puppy would have taken a few hours at least. At this point I have done a LOT of the same diagnosis so it's just a matter of pulling it from 1 old careplan to another and then tweaking it for my particular client. I have done Impaired Gas Exchange/Ineffective Tissue Perfusion/Acute Pain/ Ineffective Airway Clearance/ Impaired Skin Integrity...at least a dozen times each. The drugs start to repeat as you know your lab values by then. It DOES get easier.

puggymae · May 5, 2007

Care plans that you do in school are a way to validate that you understand how to take care of a patient with "X" problem. The rationale for each action provides proof that you know why (and understand the patho behind) a nursing intervention is performed.

I always did what the above poster suggests - I had a set of cards that I made with a diagnosis, interventions, and rationales written on them. When I encountered that problem again I just pulled out my card and adjusted it accordingly.

AnnieOaklyRN, BSN, RN, EMT-P · May 5, 2007

A-MEN to that. I cranked my last one out in less than 20 minutes- 2 semesters ago that puppy would have taken a few hours at least. At this point I have done a LOT of the same diagnosis so it's just a matter of pulling it from 1 old careplan to another and then tweaking it for my particular client. I have done Impaired Gas Exchange/Ineffective Tissue Perfusion/Acute Pain/ Ineffective Airway Clearance/ Impaired Skin Integrity...at least a dozen times each. The drugs start to repeat as you know your lab values by then. It DOES get easier.

Ditto. after you do so many you can pretty much cut and paste a whole care plan.

'tooth

Megsd, BSN, RN · May 6, 2007

Ditto. after you do so many you can pretty much cut and paste a whole care plan.

I finally got smart after a few weeks of my first quarter and started typing my careplans and concept maps. I made an excel database of all the drugs I had encountered (along with nursing implications, etc.) and that way when the drug came up on my next pt I'd just pull the info from excel and copy/paste it. Especially if you are on a specialty floor you will no doubt have repeated diagnoses, so the patho will be similar, the drugs will be similar, the labs might be similar, and the actual care plan will likely be similar. By saving all my careplans on the computer I could pull up previous ones and copy/paste the info.

Now I can pretty much rattle an entire careplan out of my head in a few minutes.

Cherish · May 6, 2007

I finally got smart after a few weeks of my first quarter and started typing my careplans and concept maps. I made an excel database of all the drugs I had encountered (along with nursing implications, etc.) and that way when the drug came up on my next pt I'd just pull the info from excel and copy/paste it. Especially if you are on a specialty floor you will no doubt have repeated diagnoses, so the patho will be similar, the drugs will be similar, the labs might be similar, and the actual care plan will likely be similar. By saving all my careplans on the computer I could pull up previous ones and copy/paste the info.
Now I can pretty much rattle an entire careplan out of my head in a few minutes.

Thats a GREAT idea!