Nursing Care Plans

[SkinnyLatte]

Hello everyone!

I am currently enrolled in a CNA course and will be applying to the RN program very soon. In my CNA class, patient care plans are pushed big time. Everything we go over (ROM, BRP ect) is said to be somewhere in the patien's care plan. In quite a few threads I've read on here, I've noticed that it's been said that most of the time nurses dont even have time to even look at the care plans let alone follow them. Is this true? How does one go about assessing the patient's needs if the care plan isnt utilized?

Thanks again!

Ashleigh

[whichone'spink, BSN, RN]

I'll never get away from them.

[SkinnyLatte]

Thanks so much for all your input!! It's definitely greatly appreciated! :)

-Ashleigh

[ImThatGuy, BSN, RN]

Thinking through what goes on a care plan is not at all difficult. Documenting, through report writing, is not difficult. Regurgitating all of that in nurse speak is, however, overly time consuming. The difficulty comes only from trying to keep the verbiage and format like that of an instructor sample.

Just out of curiosity, have any studies been completed and published stating whether NANDA language care plans actually improve patient outcomes?