Antiquated Care Plans

Nursing Students Student Assist

Published

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?

6 Hours for a Care Plan? We have to do 2 care Plans for each patient and it doesn't take me any time to finish them, if you have a decent care plan book it should be a snap to do a plan. As for the meds and all we have to do clinical prep sheets before clinical night with research on the client condition, meds, etc. and we write a journal after clinical with information about what we did for the client and all that. The care plans although outdated because of standardized forms the hospitals use now, we still are required to write them. Do you use a care plan book? They are very helpful to get them right plan for the right patient.

Even with care plan books, there are quite a few other areas that have to be filled in...subjective, objective, norms, nsg diagnosis (if there is none ... why), etc etc etc. Our care plans are almost 10 pages long and cover EVERY part of Maslow and then some.

Yikes!!!! We had to do these too. I would keep all my care plans (make copies if they don't let you keep them) and was able to re-use the pathophysiology of certain disorders and the meds. Also was able to re-use the developmental stages of patients in the same age group. This helped save time. I also would look up care plans on the internet to help me save time because their seemed to be more choices then my nursing books.

Good luck. After all that work the hospital I work at has pre-printed care plans and you just pick the catagory, intervention and outcome.

Yes, our hospital uses PIE. The accredidation committee told the school that these care plans do not deal with the "real" world of nursing but the school insists that they are a learning tool!!!!!!! OK...enough already. Been doing them for 3 years now...think I've learned the norms yet?????

lol. Well essarge, are you seeing the light at the end of the tunnel? You are almost done with school. What do you plan on doing when you graduate?

Burn my care plans!! LOL! Seriously, I will be working in med/surg for awhile until I "get my feet wet". This is where I currently work and am very comfortable there already.

We also have to do care plans - yuck. This semester if we do 3 perfect care plans then we dont have to do anymore for the rest of the semester - i could only be so lucky!!!! It also takes me forever to do it but i think its because we have so much other stuff to do my brain is too dead from clinical to have to come home and write a care plan.

essarge, I hate care plans, too. I don't know why we have to do them, the hospitals get the computerized care plans when doing assessments, I think. Anyway, we just have to do 3 this rotation, but when we get into OB we have to do them on every patient. I will be graduating soon. Thank goodness!

It only takes you 6 hours???? Wow, I'd say you are getting off lucky. Our first Med/Surg semester it took me 20 or more hours for each one. It was a 12 needs careplan that had to address every problem and potential problem the client could have. Talk about hell!!!!!! OB and Peds careplans were short, about 30 mins. ONce again on this med/surg, we will have a "Hell" careplan until we get one perfect, then we do a short one until it's perfect, then we FINALLY move onto computerized careplanning at the hospital.

I'm beginning to wonder why they do these things. I know that most of my instructors did not read all of them through to the end. I had one care plan that the patient had the same Dx so I used a care plan from my first year that I got 100 on from the same instructor. This time around, I got an 89! No wonder nursing students come in to the "real" world totally confused!!

Uh huh, we have to do the same and it takes me just as long. The person who does them in no time flat is the exception. We are not allowed to use Care Plan books as references and since we have to cite references for all our rationales it just ain't quick and easy.

I think they do them to beat nursing process into your head until it is automatic. That's one way to do it, and I do learn plenty of stuff while looking up rationales for the interventions that I am now able to fire off the top of my head but I would rather spend that time learning more about the pathophys than looking up what page that "reposition q2h" rationale is in my Med Surg book.

Fortunately they cut down on them this semester and I hear in last semester they give up on making you write them. Looking forward to that.

Kim

+ Add a Comment