Care Plans and Nursing Diagnoses

[cjcsoon2bnp, MSN, RN, NP]

I know this is not productive or scholarly but can I just say that as a new faculty member/educator that I HATE (and I do mean HATE) nursing diagnoses and nursing care plans!

I completely understand that they are important for nursing students to learn critical thinking and understand the "big picture" of providing nursing care but that doesn't make them any less of a hassle for me to teach or grade. My big secret is that I find some of them silly, overly cumbersome and when NANDA-I changes it is hard to keep up with the revisions. Not to mention that I find it embarrassing when you try to describe nursing diagnoses to professionals in other disciplines and they either scratch their heads or roll their eyes at you.

I will stick by my fellow nursing educators and continue to teach these faithfully but in the back of my mind, I can't help but dread it when they come up in lesson plans. I should also note that I don't share this opinion with students because I don't want to undermine the process.

I'm sure that this post will trigger hate mail but I can't help how I feel. Any thoughts?

!Chris

[Not just a nurse, MSN, DNP, RN]

Hi Chris,

You don't say what type of nursing program you teach in, but the last time I had to grade nursing care plans was while teaching in a diploma program. I have since taught in ADN, BSN, and MSN programs and our faculty do/did not use care plans, or enforced the use of nursing diagnoses. Maybe the type of program has something to do with it?

However, I do remember grading pages and pages of care plans - one for each of my 8 (or 10) students - each week - during clinical rotations... I totally understand your intense feelings of dislike!

[BeachsideRN, ASN]

ADN program. We do care plans/concept maps with every rotation.

[BeachsideRN, ASN]

I find them extremely helpful in "putting it all together" and have noticed that the student in my cohort that understand the care planning process score better on exams than those that don't

[cjcsoon2bnp, MSN, RN, NP]

Hi Chris,

You don't say what type of nursing program you teach in, but the last time I had to grade nursing care plans was while teaching in a diploma program. I have since taught in ADN, BSN, and MSN programs and our faculty do/did not use care plans, or enforced the use of nursing diagnoses. Maybe the type of program has something to do with it?

However, I do remember grading pages and pages of care plans - one for each of my 8 (or 10) students - each week - during clinical rotations... I totally understand your intense feelings of dislike!

I teach as an adjunct faculty member in a BSN program. It's not that bad really, I just needed to vent.

!Chris

[Whispera, MSN, RN]

There are care plans and then there are care plans. Sometimes the requirements for completely care plans are WAY too detailed, in my opinion. Cutting down on things makes the assignments easier to swallow, for both students and faculty, and in my opinion, gives the same educational value. Someone shouldn't have to give up a day or more to complete one, nor a couple of days to check what the students write, each week.

I've taught for three schools, two were BSN and one was ASN and LPN to ASN. All had careplans.

[Natasha A., CNA, LVN]

As a nursing student I wished the purpose of care plans were explained a lot better during nursing school. if only i knew that nclex and nursing exams were linked to care plans and my nursing diagnosis book. They both show prioritization in a maslow framework: oxygen, fluid, water, elimination, nutrition, etc. I am currently preparing for NCLEX and as I do practice questions, the rationales are directly found in a care plan /nursing diagnosis book on what to do first, second, third, etc. Also, have you tried this format? http://file:///C:/Users/vanessa/Downloads/NurseThink_Oxygen_SAMPLE%20(2).pdf