Good care plan book???

[MySimplePlan]

Can anyone suggest a good care plan book? :sofahider

[Nurseismade RN]

one of my personal favorites, is called Nursing Diagnosis Handbook, A Guide to Planning Care.

by Betty Ackley.

I used it for my first year in nursing school and intend to continue with it in the 2nd year. You can look up patients medical condition and it then directs you to the nursing diagnosis and care plan. It also lists the plan by maslow's hierchy of needs and gordon's. I loved it so much I also got the pocket version for clinicals.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0323036643/sr=1-1/qid=1155961384/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-9955165-2368668?ie=UTF8&s=books

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

care plan books are basically set up in two different ways. (1) listing the nanda diagnoses in alphabetical order and then giving you nursing interventions to go along with them. an example of this type of care plan book is the very popular nursing diagnosis handbook: a guide to planning care by betty j. ackley and gail b ladwig which is the one referred to by nurseinmaking in the post above me. it is currently in it's 7th edition and is 1300+ pages long. it incorporates the current 172 official nanda nursing diagnoses into it (i know, i have nanda's publication, nursing diagnoses: definitions and classification 2005-2006, and it is all incorporated into this nursing care plan book). it is quite an extensive book and would serve you very well. one of it's chief features that sets it off from other books of this type is that it has at it's beginning an index of over 1500 physical symptoms and medical diagnoses that you can look up to get suggestions as to which nursing diagnoses might be appropriate to use. that's a big help when you are kind of at a loss at to which direction to go for a nursing diagnosis. it gives you a list of outcomes for each nursing diagnosis. they also give you references and in many cases will refer you to nursing research to support the nursing interventions that are listed. this careplan book is in every way meant to follow the current directives of nanda and i think that it has done a wonderful job of doing so in a very user friendly way. there is a slightly shortened version of this book entitled mosby's nursing diagnosis handbook that lacks some of the features of the longer version. marilyn doenges also has a nursing care plan book that is set up by nursing diagnosis as well. can't think of the name of it, but if you study the descriptions of the care plans books at a site like barnes and noble or amazon it is made clear. i mention this because doenges also has a number of care plan books and a number of them are in format (2).

(2) are care plan books that list care plans by medical diseases. they are usually broken down and organized by body systems and then major medical diseases under those body systems are addressed. the problem with this type of care plan book is that a patient may not have the particular disease you are trying to care plan for. then, what are you going to do? an example of this kind of care plan book is nursing care plans: guidelines for individualizing client care across the life span by marilyn e. doenges, mary frances moorhouse and alice c. muir. for years i have used lynda juall carpenito-moyet's nursing diagnosis, application to clinical practice which is also divided into care plans by medical diseases. a lot of students do not like carpenito and i can understand why. ms. carpenito has been a member of nanda for many years and no one knows more about the evolution and use of nursing diagnosis than her, so she tends to get a little heavy and hard to understand.

the choice, of course, is yours. i recommend that you go to barnes and noble or amazon websites and do a search for care plan books or those mentioned above. more titles and authors will come up. there are other authors. care plan books by gulanick are also popular with students. read the information on these websites. in many cases you can also get a look at the table of contents of these books as well which will give you an idea of how they are organized.

from the posts for help that i see on the student forums, the biggest thing that seems to give students problems is how to determine and chose nursing diagnoses for their patients. time and time again, this is the kind of help i see sought. not help for nursing interventions. almost inevitably i reach for my nanda publications to verify definitions and symptoms of a diagnosis or my ackley/ladwig careplan book to help in formulating the nursing diagnostic statement that is all important in student care plans. i don't quite understand why this is such a common stumbling block, but it is an important step in today's care planning process that, if it gets fouled up, causes the remainder of the care plan to fall apart.

another plus of the ackley/ladwig book is that they have a companion website that is a careplan constructor at http://www1.us.elsevierhealth.com/evolve/ackley/ndh6e/constructor/ where you can access a certain number of popular nursing diagnoses, chose nursing interventions and outcomes and the program will print it all out it a nice format for you. it's the same information that's in their book. the gulanick careplan book also has a similar companion online care plan constructor site.

you got some shopping and decisions to make!!!!

[tookewlandy]

OK i bought the Nursing Diagnosis handbook by Ackley, but my school requires we get the Nursing care Plans a guide to individualizing care by Doenges. Do you think I can just use my Nursing Diagnosis handbook, are they similar at all. or should i buy the required one. A student at my school going into her second year said that the one i have is fine and to just sue that, but if the other one is way different then i may miss out on something.

[abbythetabby]

I also like Nursing Diagnosis Handbook, A Guide to Planning Care by Betty Ackley. It really shouldn't matter which book you use because the NANDA diagnoses have a standard language. Every book will phrase them the same way.

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

OK i bought the Nursing Diagnosis handbook by Ackley, but my school requires we get the Nursing care Plans a guide to individualizing care by Doenges. Do you think I can just use my Nursing Diagnosis handbook, are they similar at all. or should i buy the required one. A student at my school going into her second year said that the one i have is fine and to just sue that, but if the other one is way different then i may miss out on something.

Andy. . .all these books, if they are the current edition incorporate the current NANDA rules. The only difference is really in the way the books are organized by the authors. I just happen to think that Ackley/Ladwig offer more information in their careplan book than all the others--more bang for your buck. Doenges is fine as well. She splits her nursing interactions into independent and collaborative interactions, something that Carpenito talks a lot about. Collaborative actions are nothing more than nursing actions you do that are done at the request and order of physicians (i.e., medications and other doctor ordered treatments). Strictly speaking, these collaborative actions are often left out of careplans because they cannot be undertaken independently by nurses. However, some nursing instructors want them included in careplans; some don't. It is important that you ALWAYS follow the careplan guidelines you are given by your instructors because your course grade depends on this.

You are always going to come to the same nursing diagnosis for a patient whether you use one careplan book or another. Reason: your nursing diagnosis is based on the assessment data you have gathered. Each NANDA diagnosis has defining characteristics that must be met in order to use that diagnosis. As I posted on a recent reply to someone asking for help with a careplan, a runny nose, cough and a fever don't ever equal a sore toe. Just like medical diagnoses have specific symptoms, so do nursing diagnoses. I should make that statement part of my signature. If careplan writers would only start to remember that, nursing diagnosis wouldn't be such a difficult mystery.

[marilynmom, LPN, NP]

I have this book I got for free:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0803611560/ref=sr_11_1/002-7657723-1630435?ie=UTF8

Will it do or would something else be better?? I just want whatever will make things easier for me.

Thanks :)

[suzy253, RN]

Actually, we couldn't use care plan books to cite in our care plans..just use them as guides. Had to use our texts--med surg, whatever to come up with the interventions, scientific rationale and cite these books only.

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

i have this book i got for free:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0803611560/ref=sr_11_1/002-7657723-1630435?ie=utf8

will it do or would something else be better?? i just want whatever will make things easier for me.

thanks :)

you can read more about what is in this book at barnes and noble here:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?z=y&ean=9780803611566&itm=2

this is what the site has to say about the books features: " the book moves from presenting the basics of the nursing process and evidence-based practice to the linkages between nanda, nic, and noc. one chapter presents mind mapping as a way to achieve individualized care and to view the client holistically. the wonderful illustrations guide the reader through the process of each client problem, diagnostic statement, signs and symptoms, on to nursing actions, and expected outcomes-a very powerful learning tool. the heart of the book is focused on the nanda diagnostic statements and then breaks them down according to related factors, defining characteristics, desired outcomes, actions-that are prioritized-each of which is key coded according to collaborative or cultural or other interventions-thus reinforcing the learning. following the prioritization the reader finds the documentation focus-reviewing assessment, planning, implementation, and discharge. this step-wise pattern of covering each diagnosis leads the reader through the process while reinforcing essential elements of the process. "

i looked at the table of contents and this book seems to be structured similarly to the ackely/ladwig book in that it lists the nanda diagnoses, only 167 of them, in alphabetical order. this is probably only fair for nursing students since there are a handful of nursing diagnoses that are not really pertinent to what general nursing students would even use. only in the last 100-200 pages does it address specific health conditions.

looks like it's probably a good book for you to use. when i was perusing the various careplan books this summer, i noticed that doenges had quite a variety of them written in various formats. apparently, she and her co-authors are trying to make a dent in mosby's sales of the ackley/ladwig books! how in the world did you get it for free?

[marilynmom, LPN, NP]

you can read more about what is in this book at barnes and noble here:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?z=y&ean=9780803611566&itm=2

this is what the site has to say about the books features: " the book moves from presenting the basics of the nursing process and evidence-based practice to the linkages between nanda, nic, and noc. one chapter presents mind mapping as a way to achieve individualized care and to view the client holistically. the wonderful illustrations guide the reader through the process of each client problem, diagnostic statement, signs and symptoms, on to nursing actions, and expected outcomes-a very powerful learning tool. the heart of the book is focused on the nanda diagnostic statements and then breaks them down according to related factors, defining characteristics, desired outcomes, actions-that are prioritized-each of which is key coded according to collaborative or cultural or other interventions-thus reinforcing the learning. following the prioritization the reader finds the documentation focus-reviewing assessment, planning, implementation, and discharge. this step-wise pattern of covering each diagnosis leads the reader through the process while reinforcing essential elements of the process. "

i looked at the table of contents and this book seems to be structured similarly to the ackely/ladwig book in that it lists the nanda diagnoses, only 167 of them, in alphabetical order. this is probably only fair for nursing students since there are a handful of nursing diagnoses that are not really pertinent to what general nursing students would even use. only in the last 100-200 pages does it address specific health conditions.

looks like it's probably a good book for you to use. when i was perusing the various careplan books this summer, i noticed that doenges had quite a variety of them written in various formats. apparently, she and her co-authors are trying to make a dent in mosby's sales of the ackley/ladwig books! how in the world did you get it for free?

thanks! i will just stick with the doenges one then.

i got quite a few books for free: davis drug guide for nurses, doenges care plan, diagnostic and lab book, pocket drug guide book, mosbys drug guide (giving some of these to friends), picture book of nursing procedures and skills (really neat!), and one other i can't remember. my nursing school got some extras from the publishers and gave them out to students first come first serve. i was pretty excited to walk in there one day and saw them laying out on a bench with the sign "free books for nursing students" written above! lol

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

Wow! Good for you! My father was always lucky. Found money on the ground all the time! May that care plan book serve you well. Don't forget to read and really try to digest the information in the early pages about the nursing process and how it all fits together with nursing diagnosis. That is a very integral part of understanding it all. From what I read on the Barnes and Noble site, the book incorporates a lot of the NANDA guidelines and that is GOOD!