Practicing nursing care plans

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Hey guys just wanna ask a quick question..... I'm on Christmas break now and I want to get my self more familiarized and get some more practice with nursing care plans. I know assessment is a great part of it but are there any books or the like available so that I can get some more practice to improve myself in this area? Thanks in advance :)

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The care plan is just a form that's been filled out. There's not really anything to practice.

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if you want to learn how to think about care planning better, i strongly suggest that you get a copy of the nanda-i 2009-2011 and make it your bedtime reading for the few weeks of holiday break. you will not be sorry-- this is the source of all we do.

just reading the nursing diagnoses and the defining characteristics will open your eyes to some things that a new student wouldn't get, but one with a semester or two will.

and you'll certainly have a leg up when you have to start assessing patients, diagnosing them, and writing their care plans later.

come back in a bit and let us know what you think!

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Thanks a lot GrnTea... I will definitely take your suggestion to heart and see how it works out

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@ GrnTea is there anything else that you would recommend I use in the meantime? Circumstances do not permit me to afford that book at this point in time

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What about looking at the sample care plans in your books? When reading care plans, asking yourself how and why everything connects (diagnoses vs. subjective/objective vs. goal vs outcomes vs interventions vs. rationales vs. goal/outcome evaluations).

Maybe you could ask your Dean if they would be willing to let you examine one they may have as an example.

Personally, I believe that care plans are THE best tool for learning nursing process and I would rather do those all day long than attempt to read hundreds of pages snooze. There are many in my class who hate care plans, but would rather read.

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one word: library.

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I highly doubt I would get anything at my school's library

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Try getting the Nursing Diagnosis Handbook - An Evidence Based Guide to Planning Care by Ackley and Ladwig. Great resource if you can afford it. ;)

http://www.amazon.com/Nursing-Diagnosis-Handbook-Evidence-Based-Planning/dp/0323071503

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i would be astonished if the librarian couldn't help you find the nanda in there, or get it on interlibrary loan. i know it's not the instant gratification you might wish for, but do you want it or not?

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i would be astonished if the librarian couldn't help you find the nanda in there, or get it on interlibrary loan. i know it's not the instant gratification you might wish for, but do you want it or not?

my school library hardly has nursing books they mainly cater for the rest of the school and if they happen to do the stuff is seriously outdated. the only thing the nursing department has more than the other faculties is academic journals and that's it. they're now trying to get nursing books and only they and the lord knows what that includes... so really at a disadvantage with that

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interlibrary loan is always a possibility, and if your school library won't do it, your local public one will. i do this often at our little town library-- you'd be amazed at what they can do!

i see that amazon has the newest edition, 2012-2014, for $33 and free 2-day shipping for students. :D this doesn't mean the 2009-2011 will be invalid-- amazon has those too, at discount, from $14.

good luck to you.

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