OB care plans, stupid question

[love2beanurse]

I am in need of a favor to ask a question. It is probably going to sound like the dumbest question you have ever heard of, but here goes. I am in OB nursing, and I am doing my care plans on my patient who had a C-section. I am using Acute Pain, Risk for Infection and Knowledge Deficient. The Risk for infection is throwing me off because I cant figure out my As manifested by or evidenced by's. I am doing Risk for infection related to abdominal incision AMB..... I cant figure that part out, we didnt use Risk for diagnosis in fundamentals and so this is throwing me off, any advise suggestions would be much appreciated. I have to finish this by tomorrow night. Thanks so much!

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

i just answered this for you on the general nursing student discussion forum: the reason you don't have any "as manifested by" or "as evidenced by" symptoms that are added to a "risk for" nursing diagnostic statement is because these are anticipated problems that do not yet exist so no defining characteristics, or symptoms, exist yet. all your nursing interventions for these nursing diagnoses will be designed to prevent them from happening. if you read the care plan process very carefully, you will note that the items that follow the words "as manifested by" or "as evidenced by" are abnormal data assessment items. since these are anticipated problems there cannot have been a physical assessment of the patient, therefore, no "as manifested by" or "as evidenced by" items. if you look at a nursing diagnosis book you will not find any defining characteristics, which is what those items are, listed under any of the "risk for" nursing diagnoses.

read the first chapter(s) of your care plan book, if you have one, regarding the nursing process and care planning. if you've read it before, read it again.