The patient care plan is essentially a roadmap to a person’s recovery process. While it was considered as a waste of time, it is only in the recent times that this plan has popularized among the elderly community. Patient care involves intense, accurate and comprehensive assessment on not only the current data but also on the patient’s overall medical history. The common myth that the patient care plan involves is that there are additional nurses placed for the patient.
Following are some of the fundamental questions answered regarding the patient care plans:
What is a patient care plan?
It is a detailed and systematic direction of the procedure to be followed for any patient from the point of diagnosis to their recovery. It contains detailed instructions regarding a patient’s care including prescribed medications, frequency, and manner of administration.
Why is a patient care plan necessary?
A patient care plan is an essential documentation component in any hospital or medical facility where nursing professionals work with different patients on rotational shifts. The maintenance of a well-organized patient care plan will ensure the implementation of the standardized procedure with regards to an individual’s care regardless of the nurses or physicians in attendance.
What are the different formats of patient care plans?
The specific formats of patient care plans may vary from organization to organization. The different categories under which patient care plans are organized are as follows:
Nursing Diagnosis –
This is a unique diagnosis plan which documents the multidimensional responses of a patient to the medical intervention. In other words, this diagnosis is not only confined to the medical diagnosis, but it also considers all the phases of treatment of the patient.
Outcome criteria –
This patient care plan is based on an outcome criterion that is expected to be achieved in any given phase of the treatment. The goals might be a short or a long-term, and the plan may evolve based on the extent to which stated outcomes are observed.