Sample Nursing Care Plans

Sample nursing care plans are free for you to use. Be sure to review our general discussion of nursing care plans before trying to construct one.

To understand how a lay person may use these as a tool to help in organizing care for a loved one, click on this link to a plan for Impaired Home Maintenance Management , which would be used where a loved one is having difficulty maintaining his home or caring for himself. A new window will open which you can drag next to this one so you can see both frames.

You can see that the top boxes focus on identifying the source of the problem, so you can determine the cause and work on it while also providing support. If you suspected that the loved one was reacting to a “loss of family member,” then perhaps a depression consultation with a health care provider is warranted.

In the “As Evidenced By” category that follows, feel free to add to this short list of symptoms. The Nursing Care Plan Constructor link below has a feature that allows you to customize a plan online. Gather as much information as you can and list it all. Then you can return later to the list to categorize similar issues into main categories, such as home maintenance, nutrition, or personal hygiene.

Proceed from the general to the specific, all the while narrowing your plan toward the next set of boxes, which have you build a plan of action. Notice that in the example plan’s “Plan and Outcome” column, you identify factors that have restricted proper home management, but also that you must set goals--in this case that the patient demonstrates the ability to perform the skills necessary for the care for himself and home.

Be sure to establish time lines for these goals, so you can remind everyone involved of the goals (to keep a focus) and so you can periodically adjust if necessary.

Finally, you will see that on many of these sample nursing care plans, there is a signature line for “patient/significant other.” This shows the importance not only of patient involvement in ongoing treatment, but also the participation of family and close friends.

Sample Nursing Care Plans Resources:

1. Nursing Care Plan Constructor: a free interactive online tool that allows construction of a nursing care plan based on several dozen listed diagnoses (or include your own if not listed). You may also select from assessments and interventions provided as well as insert your own. Once you construct a plan, you may print it for easy use.

2. RNCentral.com Sample Nursing Care Plans: simple printable nursing care plans on dozens of presenting diagnoses and problems, from the less technical , e.g., Impaired Home Maintenance (difficulty in caring for self or family) to the highly technical, e.g., Alteration in Cardiac Output.

Other Nursing Care Plans Resources

If You Need Help

Nursing care planning is a great way to tackle simpler care issues. If you need assistance in constructing an overall care plan and in finding qualified, reliable resources to implement your plan, it is wise to consider consulting an elder care professional.

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