Whats the diff. between protocols and critical pathways?

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Question: Whats the difference between a clinical guideline(protocol) and a critical pathway?

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

A critical pathway is a type of care plan that details for the nursing staff what they are to be doing each day for a specific patient nursing problem until it is solved.

A clinical guideline is merely a policy that tells the nurses how they are supposed to do a procedure.

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