need help with the short term and long term outcome

hi, classof2009, and welcome to allnurses! :welcome:

you will get a better response to these kinds of questions if you post them in one of these student forums:

• https://allnurses.com/forums/f205/ - nursing student assistance forums
  
• https://allnurses.com/forums/f50/ - the general nursing student discussion forum
  

you are on step #3 of the nursing process of your care plan:

1. assessment (collect data from medical record, do a physical assessment of the patient, look up information about your patient's medical diseases/conditions)
   
2. determination of the patient's problem(s)/nursing diagnosis (make a list of the abnormal assessment data, match your abnormal assessment data to likely nursing diagnoses, decide on the nursing diagnosis to use)
   
3. planning (write measurable goals/outcomes and nursing interventions)
   
4. implementation (initiate the care plan)
   
5. evaluation (determine if goals/outcomes have been met)

you should have completed steps #1 and #2 before getting to this point. all outcomes and nursing interventions are based upon the abnormal data (or the list of signs and symptoms) that you should have developed in step #2 of the nursing process. these symptoms come out of your assessment activities. outcomes are the predicted results of our independent nursing actions. independent nursing actions are those things that a nurse can prescribe, or order, for a patient that do not require a physician order. in other words, outcomes are linked to your nursing interventions. there is a discussion on how to write goals/outcomes on post #157 of this thread: https://allnurses.com/forums/f50/careplans-help-please-r-t-aeb-121128.html

so, if your nursing diagnostic statement is acute pain related to inflammation due to rheumatoid arthritis as evidenced by (signs and symptoms of the pain go here), then your nursing interventions are aimed at the signs and symptoms of the pain. your outcomes focus on the expected results you hope to see as a result of those interventions.

for more information on care planning see these threads on the nursing student forums:

• https://allnurses.com/forums/f205/desperately-need-help-careplans-170689.html - desperately need help with careplans (in nursing student assistance forum) - post #109 has the list of ackley/ladwig links to nursing diagnosis pages - psychosocial diagnoses are listed on post #145; wellness diagnoses are listed on post #84; an explanation of the difference between outcomes and goals on post #75
  
• https://allnurses.com/forums/f50/careplans-help-please-r-t-aeb-121128-7.html - careplans help please! (with the r\t and aeb) (in general nursing student discussion forum) - how to write long term goals is discussed on post #157