Writing an effective Nursing Care Plan is a fundamental skill for both student and professional nurses. This guide provides a step-by-step approach to developing comprehensive and patient-centered care plans. We offer an ultimate database of nursing care plans (NCPs) and nursing diagnosis examples, freely available for student nurses and experienced professionals alike. Learn about care plan components, explore examples, understand objectives and purposes, and master the art of writing an excellent nursing care plan, complete with templates for practical application.
Table of Contents
What is a Nursing Care Plan?
A nursing care plan (NCP) is a structured and systematic process used to identify a patient’s existing health needs and to anticipate potential risks or needs. Nursing care plans are vital for fostering clear communication among nurses, patients, and the interdisciplinary healthcare team, ensuring coordinated efforts towards achieving optimal healthcare outcomes. Without a robust care planning process, the consistency and quality of patient care can be significantly compromised.
The care planning process begins upon a patient’s admission and remains a dynamic, continuously updated document. It evolves in response to changes in the patient’s condition and through ongoing evaluation of goal achievement. Delivering individualized, patient-centered care through meticulous planning is the cornerstone of excellence in nursing practice.
Types of Nursing Care Plans
Nursing care plans can be categorized as informal or formal, and further classified by their level of standardization:
- Informal Nursing Care Plans: These are mental strategies, existing within the nurse‘s mind as a quick plan of action.
- Formal Nursing Care Plans: These are documented guides, either written or electronic, that systematically organize a patient’s care information.
Formal care plans are further divided into:
- Standardized Care Plans: These plans outline the nursing care for patient groups with common, recurring needs.
- Individualized Care Plans: These are customized plans designed to address a specific patient’s unique requirements that are not adequately covered by standardized plans.
Standardized Care Plans
Standardized care plans serve as pre-established guidelines developed by nursing staff and healthcare facilities. They ensure consistent care for patients with similar conditions. These plans are crucial for meeting minimum care standards and optimizing nurses’ efficiency by streamlining routine tasks common to many patients within a nursing unit.
While standardized care plans offer a solid foundation, they are not designed to meet every specific patient’s needs and goals. They often act as a starting point for creating more personalized individualized care plans.
The care plans presented in this guide are standardized care plans, intended as frameworks to guide the development of individualized plans.
Individualized Care Plans
An individualized care plan adapts a standardized plan to align with the specific needs and goals of each patient. This approach utilizes strategies proven effective for the individual. Individualized plans promote personalized and holistic care, better suited to a patient’s unique strengths, needs, and objectives.
Moreover, individualized care plans can significantly enhance patient satisfaction. Patients who perceive their care as tailored to their specific circumstances are more likely to feel valued and understood, leading to greater satisfaction with their overall healthcare experience. In today’s healthcare environment, patient satisfaction is increasingly recognized as a critical indicator of care quality.
Tips for Individualizing a Nursing Care Plan:
- Assess Unique Needs: Conduct a thorough assessment to identify the patient’s specific physical, psychological, social, cultural, and spiritual needs.
- Incorporate Patient Preferences: Actively involve the patient and their family in the care planning process to understand their preferences, values, and goals.
- Adjust Interventions: Modify standardized interventions or create new ones to align with the patient’s individual needs and preferences.
- Focus on Strengths: Build upon the patient’s strengths and resources to promote independence and self-management.
- Regularly Review and Update: Continuously evaluate the care plan and adjust it based on the patient’s changing condition and feedback.
Objectives of Nursing Care Plans
Nursing care plans are designed with several key objectives:
- Promote Evidence-Based Care: To deliver nursing care that is grounded in the latest research and best practices, ensuring consistent and effective treatment within healthcare settings.
- Support Holistic Care: To address the patient as a whole person, encompassing their physical, psychological, social, and spiritual dimensions in the management and prevention of illness.
- Establish Care Programs: To develop structured care pathways and care bundles that standardize care delivery. Care pathways ensure team consensus on care standards and outcomes, while care bundles apply best practices for specific conditions.
- Define Goals and Outcomes: To clearly identify and differentiate between broad goals and specific, measurable expected outcomes for patient care.
- Enhance Communication and Documentation: To improve communication among healthcare providers and ensure comprehensive documentation of the care plan.
- Measure Nursing Care Effectiveness: To provide a framework for evaluating the quality and impact of nursing care interventions.
Purposes of a Nursing Care Plan
Nursing care plans are essential for several reasons, highlighting their critical role in patient care:
- Defines the Nurse’s Role: Care plans clarify the independent and unique role of nurses in addressing patients’ holistic health needs, beyond simply following physician’s orders.
- Provides Direction for Individualized Care: They serve as a personalized roadmap for patient care, enabling nurses to apply critical thinking to tailor interventions to each patient’s specific needs.
- Ensures Continuity of Care: By providing a documented plan, care plans enable nurses across different shifts and departments to deliver consistent, high-quality interventions, maximizing treatment benefits for patients.
- Coordinates Care: Care plans facilitate communication and collaboration among all members of the healthcare team, ensuring everyone is aware of the patient’s needs and the necessary actions to meet them, thus preventing gaps in care.
- Facilitates Documentation: Care plans accurately specify necessary observations, nursing actions, and patient/family instructions. Proper documentation within the care plan is crucial for demonstrating that care was indeed provided.
- Guides Staff Assignment: Care plans help in assigning staff with the appropriate skills to patients with specific and complex care needs.
- Monitors Progress: They enable healthcare providers to track patient progress and adjust the care plan as the patient’s condition and goals evolve.
- Supports Reimbursement: Insurance companies utilize medical records, including care plans, to determine appropriate reimbursement for hospital care.
- Defines Patient Goals: Care plans actively involve patients in their treatment and care, empowering them and ensuring their goals are central to the care process.
Components of a Nursing Care Plan
A comprehensive nursing care plan (NCP) typically includes several key components: nursing diagnoses, patient problems, expected outcomes, nursing interventions, and rationales. Each component is detailed below:
Care Plan Formats
Nursing care plan formats are commonly organized into columns, typically using either a three-column or four-column structure. A five-column format is also used in some settings.
Three-Column Format
The three-column format organizes information into: (1) nursing diagnoses, (2) outcomes and evaluation, and (3) interventions.
Three-column nursing care plan format
Four-Column Format
The four-column format expands on the three-column structure by separating outcomes and evaluation into distinct columns: (1) nursing diagnosis, (2) goals and outcomes, (3) interventions, and (4) evaluation.
Four-column nursing care plan template
Sample templates for different nursing care plan formats are available for download and customization:
Download: Printable Nursing Care Plan Templates and Formats
Student Care Plans
Student care plans are generally more detailed and extensive than those used by practicing nurses. This is because they serve as a crucial learning tool for nursing students.
Student nursing care plans are more detailed.
Often, student care plans are required to be handwritten and include an additional column for “Rationale” or “Scientific Explanation” following the nursing interventions. Rationales provide the scientific basis for chosen nursing interventions, linking them to underlying principles.
Writing a Nursing Care Plan: Step-by-Step
Creating a nursing care plan (NCP) involves a systematic process. Follow these steps to develop an effective care plan for your patients:
Step 1: Data Collection or Assessment
The initial step in developing a nursing care plan is to build a comprehensive patient database. This is achieved through thorough assessment techniques and data collection methods, including physical assessments, obtaining a detailed health history, conducting patient interviews, reviewing medical records, and analyzing diagnostic studies. This patient database consolidates all pertinent health information gathered. During this phase, nurses identify related or risk factors and defining characteristics that will inform the nursing diagnosis. Many healthcare facilities and nursing schools provide specific assessment formats to guide this process.
Critical thinking is paramount in patient assessment. It involves integrating knowledge from various scientific disciplines and professional guidelines to guide evaluations. This critical process is vital for complex clinical decision-making, aiming to accurately identify patient healthcare needs within a supportive environment utilizing reliable information.
Step 2: Data Analysis and Organization
Once patient health information is collected, the next step is to analyze, cluster, and organize this data. This analysis is essential for formulating accurate nursing diagnoses, determining care priorities, and establishing desired patient outcomes.
Step 3: Formulating Nursing Diagnoses
Nursing diagnoses are standardized statements that precisely identify and address specific patient needs and responses to both actual and potential health problems. They represent health issues that can be independently prevented or resolved by nursing interventions.
For a detailed guide on formulating nursing diagnoses, refer to: Nursing Diagnosis (NDx): Complete Guide and List.
Step 4: Setting Priorities
Prioritizing involves establishing a preferential order for addressing nursing diagnoses and implementing interventions. In this step, nurses collaborate with patients to determine which identified problems require immediate attention. Diagnoses are often categorized as high, medium, or low priority. Life-threatening conditions always take precedence and are considered high priority.
Nursing diagnoses are often prioritized using Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, a framework that organizes basic human needs in a hierarchical manner. Developed by Abraham Maslow in 1943, this hierarchy posits that basic physiological needs must be met before higher-level needs, such as self-esteem and self-actualization, can be addressed. Physiological and safety needs form the foundation of nursing care and interventions, residing at the base of Maslow’s pyramid and underpinning both physical and emotional well-being.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:
- Basic Physiological Needs: These are the most fundamental needs, including nutrition (water and food), elimination, airway management (suction), breathing (oxygen), circulation (monitoring pulse, cardiac function, and blood pressure), sleep, sex, shelter, and exercise.
- Safety and Security Needs: These needs involve injury prevention (using side rails, call lights, practicing hand hygiene, implementing isolation protocols, suicide precautions, fall prevention, ensuring car seat use, and helmet safety), fostering a safe and trusting environment (therapeutic relationships), and patient education on modifiable risk factors (e.g., for stroke or heart disease).
- Love and Belonging Needs: Addressing these needs involves fostering supportive relationships, preventing social isolation (addressing bullying), employing active listening, therapeutic communication, and supporting sexual intimacy.
- Self-Esteem Needs: These include fostering community acceptance, workplace recognition, personal achievements, a sense of control and empowerment, and acceptance of one’s physical appearance.
- Self-Actualization Needs: These are the highest-level needs, involving creating empowering environments, supporting spiritual growth, fostering the ability to understand diverse perspectives, and enabling individuals to reach their full potential.
*Virginia Henderson’s 14 Needs as applied to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Learn more about it here. *
When prioritizing care, nurses must consider the patient’s health values, beliefs, priorities, available resources, and the urgency of the situation. Patient involvement in this process is crucial for enhancing cooperation and adherence to the care plan.
Step 5: Establishing Patient Goals and Desired Outcomes
Following the prioritization of nursing diagnoses, nurses and patients collaborate to set goals for each identified priority. Goals or desired outcomes define what the nurse aims to achieve through nursing interventions derived from the patient’s nursing diagnoses. Goals guide the planning of interventions, provide benchmarks for evaluating patient progress, help both the patient and nurse recognize problem resolution, and offer motivation through a sense of accomplishment.
Examples of goals and desired outcomes. Note their formatting and wording.
Typically, one overarching goal is established for each nursing diagnosis. The terms “goal outcomes” and “expected outcomes” are often used interchangeably.
Effective goals are SMART, an acronym developed by Hamilton and Price (2013), representing:
- Specific: Goals should be clear, significant, and well-defined to be effective.
- Measurable: Goals must be quantifiable to allow for progress monitoring and confirmation of achievement.
- Attainable: Goals should be challenging yet achievable, ensuring they are within the realm of possibility.
- Realistic: Goals should be practical and consider available resources, ensuring successful outcomes are feasible.
- Time-Oriented: Every goal needs a defined timeframe or deadline, providing focus and a target for achievement.
Hogston (2011) proposes the REEPIG standards to ensure high-quality care plans:
- Realistic: Goals must be achievable given available resources.
- Explicitly Stated: Goals should be clearly articulated to avoid misinterpretation of instructions.
- Evidence-Based: Interventions should be supported by research and proven effective.
- Prioritized: The care plan should address the most urgent problems first.
- Involve: Care planning should include both the patient and all relevant members of the multidisciplinary team.
- Goal-Centered: The planned care must directly contribute to achieving the set goals.
Short-Term and Long-Term Goals
Goals and expected outcomes must be measurable and patient-centered. They are formulated to promote problem prevention, resolution, and rehabilitation. Goals can be categorized as short-term or long-term. In acute care settings, most goals are short-term due to the focus on immediate patient needs. Long-term goals are more common for patients with chronic conditions or those in home care, nursing homes, or extended care facilities.
- Short-term goals are statements of behavioral change expected within a short period, typically hours to days.
- Long-term goals indicate objectives to be achieved over a longer duration, usually weeks or months.
- Discharge planning incorporates long-term goals to ensure ongoing restorative care and problem resolution through home health services, physical therapy, or other referral sources.
Components of Goals and Desired Outcomes
Goal and desired outcome statements usually contain four key components: a subject, a verb, conditions or modifiers, and a criterion of desired performance.
Components of goals and desired outcomes in a nursing care plan.
- Subject: Typically the patient, a part of the patient, or a patient attribute (e.g., pulse, temperature, urinary output). Often omitted in goal statements as the subject is assumed to be the patient unless otherwise specified (e.g., family, significant other).
- Verb: Specifies the action the patient is expected to perform, learn, or experience.
- Conditions or Modifiers: Detail the “what, when, where, or how” of the expected behavior, clarifying the circumstances under which it should occur.
- Criterion of Desired Performance: Sets the standard for evaluating performance or the level at which the patient will perform the specified behavior. This component is optional but adds specificity.
Tips for writing effective goals and desired outcomes:
- Frame goals and outcomes in terms of patient responses, not nurse activities. Start each goal with “Client will […]” to maintain patient-centered focus.
- Avoid stating what the nurse hopes to achieve; instead, focus on what the patient will accomplish.
- Use observable, measurable terms for outcomes. Avoid vague language that requires subjective interpretation.
- Ensure desired outcomes are realistic given the patient’s resources, capabilities, limitations, and the care timeframe.
- Verify that goals are compatible with other healthcare professionals’ therapies.
- Ensure each goal is derived from only one nursing diagnosis to facilitate clear evaluation of care and ensure interventions are directly related to the diagnosis.
- Confirm that the patient values and considers the goals important to foster cooperation and engagement.
Step 6: Selecting Nursing Interventions
Nursing interventions are specific actions a nurse performs to help patients achieve their goals. These interventions should aim to eliminate or reduce the underlying cause of the priority nursing problem or diagnosis. For risk-based diagnoses, interventions should focus on minimizing patient risk factors. While identified and documented during the planning phase of the nursing process, nursing interventions are actually carried out during the implementation phase.
Types of Nursing Interventions
Nursing interventions can be categorized as independent, dependent, or collaborative:
Types of nursing interventions in a care plan.
- Independent nursing interventions are actions nurses are authorized to initiate based on their professional judgment and skills. These include continuous assessment, emotional support, providing comfort, patient education, physical care, and referrals to other healthcare professionals.
- Dependent nursing interventions are actions carried out under a physician’s orders or supervision. These include administering medications, intravenous therapy, performing diagnostic tests, providing treatments, and managing diet and activity levels. Nurses are also responsible for assessment and explanation when implementing medical orders.
- Collaborative interventions involve actions nurses undertake in partnership with other healthcare team members, such as physicians, social workers, dietitians, and therapists. These interventions are developed through consultation to integrate diverse professional perspectives.
Nursing interventions should be:
- Safe and appropriate for the patient’s age, health status, and condition.
- Achievable given available resources and time constraints.
- Consistent with the patient’s values, culture, and beliefs.
- Aligned with other planned therapies.
- Based on nursing knowledge, experience, and relevant scientific evidence.
Tips for writing effective nursing interventions:
- Date and sign the care plan upon completion. Dating is crucial for evaluation, review, and future planning, while the nurse’s signature signifies accountability.
- Nursing interventions should be specific and clearly stated, beginning with an action verb that precisely describes the expected nurse action. Include qualifiers detailing how, when, where, at what time, frequency, and in what amount the activity should be performed. For example: “Educate parents on how to take temperature and when to report changes,” or “Assess urine for color, amount, odor, and clarity.”
- Use only institution-approved abbreviations to ensure clarity and avoid errors.
Step 7: Providing Rationales
Rationales, or scientific explanations, justify the selection of each nursing intervention within the NCP.
Sample nursing interventions and rationale for a care plan (NCP)
Rationales are typically included in student care plans to help them connect pathophysiological and psychological principles to the chosen nursing interventions, enhancing their understanding of the care process.
Step 8: Evaluation
Evaluation is a systematic, ongoing, and purposeful process to assess a patient’s progress toward achieving their goals and to determine the effectiveness of the nursing care plan (NCP). Evaluation is a critical component of the nursing process as it informs decisions about whether to continue, modify, or terminate specific nursing interventions.
Step 9: Documentation
The patient’s care plan is documented according to hospital policy and becomes a permanent part of their medical record, accessible for review by all members of the healthcare team. Nursing programs often utilize different care plan formats, many of which follow a structured, five-column approach that systematically guides students through the interrelated steps of the nursing process.
Nursing Care Plan Examples
This section provides a comprehensive list of sample nursing care plans (NCPs) and nursing diagnoses for a wide range of diseases and health conditions, categorized for easy navigation.
Basic Nursing and General Care Plans
This category includes miscellaneous nursing care plan examples that do not fit into other specific categories:
| Basic Nursing & General Care Plans |
|---|
| Acute Confusion (Delirium) and Altered Mental Status |
| Acute Pain and Pain Management |
| Activity Intolerance and Generalized Weakness |
| Cancer (Oncology Nursing) |
| Caregiver Role Strain and Family Caregiver Support Systems |
| Chronic Confusion (Dementia) |
| End-of-Life Care (Hospice Care or Palliative) |
| Fall Risk and Fall Prevention |
| Fatigue and Lethargy |
| Geriatric Nursing (Older Adult) |
| Grieving and Loss |
| Hypothermia and Cold Injuries |
| Hyperthermia (Fever) |
| Impaired Swallowing (Dysphagia) |
| Insomnia and Sleep Deprivation |
| Prolonged Bed Rest |
| Risk for Injury and Patient Safety |
| Self-Care and Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) |
| Surgery (Perioperative Client) |
| Systemic Lupus Erythematosus |
| Total Parenteral Nutrition |
Surgery and Perioperative Care Plans
Care plans focused on patients undergoing surgical intervention.
| Surgery and Perioperative Care Plans |
|---|
| Amputation |
| Appendectomy |
| Cholecystectomy |
| Fracture UPDATED! |
| Hemorrhoids |
| Hysterectomy |
| Ileostomy & Colostomy |
| Laminectomy (Disc Surgery) |
| Mastectomy |
| Subtotal Gastrectomy |
| Surgery (Perioperative Client) |
| Thyroidectomy |
| Total Joint (Knee, Hip) Replacement |
Cardiac Care Plans
Nursing care plans addressing various diseases of the cardiovascular system.
| Cardiac Care Plans |
|---|
| Angina Pectoris (Coronary Artery Disease) |
| Cardiac Arrhythmia (Digitalis Toxicity) |
| Cardiac Catheterization |
| Cardiogenic Shock |
| Congenital Heart Disease |
| Decreased Cardiac Output & Cardiac Support |
| Heart Failure UPDATED! |
| Hypertension UPDATED! |
| Hypovolemic Shock |
| Impaired Tissue Perfusion & Ischemia |
| Myocardial Infarction |
| Pacemaker Therapy |
Endocrine and Metabolic Care Plans
Nursing care plans (NCPs) related to the endocrine system and metabolism.
| Endocrine and Metabolic Care Plans |
|---|
| Addison’s Disease |
| Cushing’s Disease |
| Diabetes Mellitus (Type 1, Type 2) UPDATED! |
| Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA) and Hyperglycemic Hyperosmolar Nonketotic Syndrome (HHNS) |
| Eating Disorders: Anorexia & Bulimia Nervosa |
| Fluid Volume Deficit (Dehydration & Hypovolemia) |
| Fluid Volume Excess (Hypervolemia) |
| Gestational Diabetes Mellitus |
| Hyperthyroidism |
| Hypothyroidism |
| Imbalanced Nutrition (Malnutrition) |
| Obesity & Overweight |
| Thyroidectomy |
| Unstable Blood Glucose Levels (Hyperglycemia & Hypoglycemia) |
| Acid-Base Imbalances |
|---|
| Metabolic Acidosis |
| Metabolic Alkalosis |
| Respiratory Acidosis |
| Respiratory Alkalosis |
| Electrolyte Imbalances |
|---|
| Calcium (Ca) Imbalances: Hypercalcemia and Hypocalcemia |
| Magnesium (Mg) Imbalances: Hypermagnesemia and Hypomagnesemia |
| Potassium (K) Imbalances: Hyperkalemia and Hypokalemia |
| Sodium (Na) Imbalances: Hypernatremia and Hyponatremia |
Gastrointestinal Care Plans
Care plans (NCPs) addressing disorders of the gastrointestinal and digestive system.
| Gastrointestinal Care Plans |
|---|
| Appendectomy |
| Bowel Incontinence (Fecal Incontinence) |
| Cholecystectomy |
| Constipation |
| Diarrhea Nursing Care Plan and Management |
| Cholecystitis and Cholelithiasis |
| Gastroenteritis |
| Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) |
| Hemorrhoids |
| Hepatitis |
| Ileostomy & Colostomy |
| Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) |
| Intussusception |
| Liver Cirrhosis |
| Nausea & Vomiting |
| Pancreatitis |
| Peritonitis |
| Peptic Ulcer Disease |
| Subtotal Gastrectomy |
| Umbilical and Inguinal Hernia |
Hematologic and Lymphatic Care Plans
Care plans related to the hematologic and lymphatic systems.
| Hematologic & Lymphatic Care Plans |
|---|
| Anaphylactic Shock |
| Anemia UPDATED! |
| Aortic Aneurysm |
| Bleeding Risk & Hemophilia |
| Deep Vein Thrombosis |
| Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation |
| Hemophilia |
| Kawasaki Disease |
| Leukemia |
| Lymphoma |
| Sepsis and Septicemia |
| Sickle Cell Anemia Crisis |
Infectious Diseases Care Plans
NCPs for communicable and infectious diseases.
| Infectious Diseases Care Plans |
|---|
| Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) (HIV Positive) |
| Acute Rheumatic Fever |
| Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever |
| Herpes Zoster (Shingles) |
| Influenza (Flu) |
| Pulmonary Tuberculosis |
| Risk for Infection & Infection Control |
Integumentary Care Plans
Care plans focused on disorders and conditions affecting the integumentary system.
| Integumentary Care Plans |
|---|
| Burn Injury |
| Dermatitis |
| Herpes Zoster (Shingles) |
| Pressure Ulcer (Bedsores) |
| Wound Care and Skin/Tissue Integrity |
Maternal and Newborn Care Plans
Nursing care plans for the care of pregnant mothers and newborns. Maternity and obstetric nursing care plans are included.
| Maternal and Newborn Care Plans |
|---|
| Abortion (Termination of Pregnancy) |
| Cervical Insufficiency (Premature Dilation of the Cervix) |
| Cesarean Birth |
| Cleft Palate and Cleft Lip |
| Gestational Diabetes Mellitus |
| Hyperbilirubinemia (Jaundice) |
| Labor Stages, Induced, Augmented, Dysfunctional, Precipitous Labor |
| Neonatal Sepsis |
| Perinatal Loss (Miscarriage, Stillbirth) |
| Placental Abruption |
| Placenta Previa |
| Postpartum Hemorrhage |
| Postpartum Thrombophlebitis |
| Prenatal Hemorrhage |
| Preeclampsia and Gestational Hypertension |
| Prenatal Infection |
| Preterm Labor |
| Puerperal & Postpartum Infections |
| Substance (Alcohol and Drug) Abuse in Pregnancy |
Mental Health and Psychiatric Care Plans
Care plans for mental health and psychiatric nursing.
| Mental Health and Psychiatric Care Plans |
|---|
| Alcohol Withdrawal |
| Anxiety & Fear |
| Anxiety and Panic Disorders |
| Bipolar Disorders |
| Body Image Disturbance & Self-Esteem |
| Impaired Thought Processes & Cognitive Impairment |
| Major Depression |
| Personality Disorders |
| Schizophrenia |
| Sexual Assault |
| Substance Dependence and Abuse |
| Suicide Behaviors |
Musculoskeletal Care Plans
Care plans related to the musculoskeletal system.
| Musculoskeletal Care Plans |
|---|
| Amputation |
| Congenital Hip Dysplasia |
| Fracture UPDATED! |
| Impaired Physical Mobility & Immobility |
| Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis |
| Laminectomy (Disc Surgery) |
| Osteoarthritis |
| Osteogenic Sarcoma (Osteosarcoma) |
| Osteoporosis |
| Rheumatoid Arthritis |
| Scoliosis |
| Spinal Cord Injury |
| Total Joint (Knee, Hip) Replacement |
Neurological Care Plans
Nursing care plans (NCPs) for disorders related to the nervous system.
| Neurological Care Plans |
|---|
| Alzheimer’s Disease UPDATED! |
| Brain Tumor |
| Cerebral Palsy |
| Cerebrovascular Accident (Stroke) UPDATED! |
| Guillain-Barre Syndrome |
| Meningitis |
| Multiple Sclerosis |
| Parkinson’s Disease |
| Seizure Disorder |
| Spinal Cord Injury |
Ophthalmic Care Plans
Care plans relating to eye disorders.
| Ophthalmic Care Plans |
|---|
| Cataracts |
| Glaucoma |
| Macular Degeneration |
Pediatric Nursing Care Plans
Nursing care plans (NCPs) for pediatric conditions and diseases.
| Pediatric Nursing Care Plans |
|---|
| Child Abuse |
| Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate |
| Dying Child |
| Febrile Seizure |
| Hospitalized Child |
| Hydrocephalus |
| Otitis Media |
| Spina Bifida |
| Tonsillitis and Adenoiditis |
Reproductive Care Plans
Care plans related to reproductive and sexual function disorders.
| Reproductive Care Plans |
|---|
| Cryptorchidism (Undescended Testes) |
| Hysterectomy |
| Hypospadias and Epispadias |
| Mastectomy |
| Menopause |
| Prostatectomy |
Respiratory Care Plans
Care plans for respiratory system disorders.
| Respiratory Care Plans |
|---|
| Airway Clearance Therapy & Coughing |
| Apnea |
| Asthma UPDATED! |
| Aspiration Risk & Aspiration Pneumonia |
| Bronchiolitis UPDATED! |
| Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD) UPDATED! |
| Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) UPDATED! |
| Croup Syndrome |
| Cystic Fibrosis UPDATED! |
| Epiglottitis |
| Hemothorax and Pneumothorax UPDATED! |
| Ineffective Breathing Pattern (Dyspnea) |
| Impairment of Gas Exchange |
| Influenza (Flu) UPDATED! |
| Lung Cancer UPDATED! |
| Mechanical Ventilation |
| Near-Drowning |
| Pleural Effusion |
| Pneumonia |
| Pulmonary Embolism |
| Pulmonary Tuberculosis |
| Tracheostomy |
Urinary Care Plans
Care plans related to the kidney and urinary system disorders.
| Urinary Care Plans |
|---|
| Acute Glomerulonephritis |
| Acute Renal Failure |
| Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) |
| Chronic Renal Failure |
| Hemodialysis |
| Nephrotic Syndrome |
| Peritoneal Dialysis |
| Urolithiasis (Renal Calculi) |
| Urinary Elimination (Urinary Incontinence & Urinary Retention) |
| Urinary Tract Infection |
| Vesicoureteral Reflux (VUR) |
| Wilms Tumor (Nephroblastoma) |
Recommended Resources
Explore these recommended nursing diagnosis and nursing care plan books and resources to deepen your understanding and skills.
Disclosure: The following are affiliate links from Amazon at no additional cost to you. We may earn a small commission from purchases. For more information, see our privacy policy.
Ackley and Ladwig’s Nursing Diagnosis Handbook: An Evidence-Based Guide to Planning Care
This handbook is praised for its evidence-based approach to nursing interventions. It offers a user-friendly, three-step system for client assessment, nursing diagnosis, and care planning. It includes clear instructions on implementing care and evaluating outcomes, enhancing diagnostic reasoning and critical thinking skills.
Nursing Care Plans – Nursing Diagnosis & Intervention (10th Edition)
This resource features over two hundred care plans incorporating the latest evidence-based guidelines. The new edition includes ICNP diagnoses, care plans addressing LGBTQ health issues, and information on electrolyte and acid-base balance.
Nurse’s Pocket Guide: Diagnoses, Prioritized Interventions, and Rationales
This quick-reference guide is designed to help nurses efficiently identify correct diagnoses for effective patient care planning. The 16th edition includes the most recent nursing diagnoses and interventions, with an alphabetized listing covering over 400 disorders.
Nursing Diagnosis Manual: Planning, Individualizing, and Documenting Client Care
This manual aids in identifying interventions to plan, personalize, and document care for over 800 diseases and disorders. It uniquely offers subjective and objective data for each diagnosis, sample clinical applications, prioritized interventions with rationales, and documentation guidelines.
This comprehensive e-book provides over 100 care plans covering medical-surgical, maternity/OB, pediatrics, and psychiatric and mental health nursing. It uses an interprofessional “patient problems” approach to help users communicate effectively with patients.
References and Sources
List of recommended reading materials and sources for this NCP guide.
