Antiquated Care Plans

[essarge]

Our school still insists, even after the accredidation committe told them not to, that we do care plans. Just one takes me approxamately 6 hours to complete and we have to do one for each patient that we have. We have to also attach handwritten drug sheets that have just about everything the drug book has in it!

Anyone else have to do this?

[NICU_Nurse, BSN, RN]

I hate to be the only one in here saying this, but there actually is a valid reason that we do them in nursing school! Believe it or not, that process *is* an important one- being able to identify the needs (ALL the needs) of your patient and formulate a plan to take care of them. This is the basic fundamental of nursing! You are learning, though you may not believe it. When I was in school, we had careplans that would leave me up almost all night trying to get them finished correctly. I HATED care plans until I graduated, and then it suddenly all made sense. Care plans FORCE you to consider WHY you're doing something, not just *how* or when to do it. They give you an opportunity to explore the options for your patient, and determine if the best care is being received. Yes, hospitals frequently use pre-printed care plans. Have you SEEN these? Many of them are cursory, and are only written to pass the JCHAO requirements. When you get into real-life nursing, you'll need to utilize all you've learned in school (and you WILL use it, eventually! Allt hose pre-req's aren't for nothin'!). However, you'll have to function in a learn it and forget it type of mode- you often won't have time to devote to solving these issues because there is simply too much to do and not enough time to do it in, but it STILL needs to be done. Nursing school is literally your foundation, which you will start building your "house" with real experience and hands-on care. It's true that in the scope of things, what you learn in nursing school is miniscule compared to the knowledge you'll have to pick up to function as a safe and competent nurse, but you CAN'T build upon nothing, know what I'm saying? You've got to have a foundation or the whole thing will collapse (or not get off the ground to begin with!).

This will come as absolutely no comfort to you at all but when you're out of school, you'll be REMINISCING about how easy care plans were and you didn't even realize it. Stick with it! It's not forever! I promise you, it comes to an end and later- much, much later- you'll be glad that you did them. And if not, you'll at least be able to appreciate WHY you did them.

Good luck! I've often said that nursing school is like a sorority hazing- you have to go through it to get to the good stuff, but the process itself will bond you to your "sisters" for the rest of your life. :) Nobody understands care plan grief like another nurse, trust me.

[SickleMoon]

NICU_Nurse, you rock!!! You said it all! I hated care plans as a student and have never used them in "real life", though I have to admit that's because I've always worked in the ED or air transport. They use the bare-bones JCAHO care plans elsewhere in the hospital. That said, however.....

One of the best nurses I ever worked with--one of the most caring, critical thinking, knowledgable, best "big picture thinker" nurses I've ever met--attributed a lot of what she was to knowing the whole nursing diagnosis and care plan process inside and out. She used to say that that's where she learned all the little things that count, not just A&P, drugs, etcetera. I was a student when I met her and took her advice to heart, and she was right. I know it's very hard when you're a student to find the time for in-depth study on a lot of these things, but believe me, it pays off. The secret is to do what you have to do to get through school--prioritize your time and efforts, and do the best you can to learn the basics--but KEEP AFTER IT when you graduate and are in practice. Hands-on is a great way to keep learning, and if you can integrate it with the nursing diagnosis and care plan information you didn't have as much time for as a student, you'll be well on your way to being the best thing to happen to your patient on the worst day of their life.

I don't envy you students today--a lot of work and a lot of things to assimilate! But from what I've seen of the students we work with here, you're doing great and I look forward to working with you as nurses. Keep the faith and hang in there--it's worth it! Best of luck to you all!:kiss