Planning Your Patient Centered Care

We're talking about planning this week and what that means for your patient's care!

Welcome back ADPIE Nation!

This week we are covering PLANNING!

Some individuals plan everything, while others go with the flow... even in healthcare. That’s totally applicable! You’ll find one nurse planning their day by writing down each medication or checking off each task. Another nurse may feel that's unnecessary and would rather handle tasks as they come.

Whether you desire meticulous planning or not, a crucial component in patient care is the care plan. So what’s the point in having a care plan? Why do we [nursing] need to have care plans in our practice?

Care plans provide a sense of direction for patient centered care that is composed collaboratively by our patients, their support system, and the nursing staff. 🙂

Care plans, although a basic tool, are extremely important in the everyday interactions with your patients. Our instructors weren’t tough on us in school because they wanted to be; they wanted us to be proficient at care plans. These are nursing interventions that truly demonstrate your devotion and accountability to your patients and their care. It gives ownership in your nursing practice.

When planning a patient’s care, there are so many factors that we as healthcare professionals will have to take into consideration. Along with factors directly relating to the patient, a sometimes overlooked barrier is family dynamics. Understanding and planning for some of these less obvious factors can set a patient up for success. Ultimately, maintaining their compliance and hopefully helping them to meet their goals! Patients, and families, will need guidance, structure, and redirection at times.

Nurses aren't the only ones invested in patient planning. Multidisciplinary teams may collaborate in patient’s care along with Nursing!

*cue the music* We’re all in this together! 😆

In acute care, you may see social services working and collaborating with therapy on a stroke patient’s care. They may be discussing his/her need on an outpatient basis. These meetings are regularly scheduled to assure patients will receive the appropriate continued care!

We should ALWAYS work as a team! Every faction of healthcare is critical to patient care! If we all work together and always put our patients first each time, then our patients can receive the care they deserve!! Remember, that patient you’re caring for and creating that care plan for belongs to someone. Take care of them just as you’d like for someone to care for your loved one!

Next week we'll be talking about IMPLEMENTATION! Follow this link here to read it now.

Your care plan should always include your patient and their needs!