The In's and Out's of Writing a Nursing School Care Plan

Hello All!

Well, clinical season is officially upon us for those who have reached that point in their nursing school journey. My first clinical day is tomorrow, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to discuss writing care plans!

At my school a care plan is a long assignment that is given to us where we write out all of one specific patient's information, vitals, individual assessment findings, medication, and create different nursing diagnoses with the appropriate NICS and NOCS. The school provides us with a template for the care plan so we know exactly what to write and where it should be placed. 

Although this sounds like a very simple assignment, it genuinely is comprised of a lot of work.  

The tips I have learned over the semesters of completing these are:

1. Make sure that you block out ample time to complete this assignment. In my program we have three days to complete the assignment, and it honestly takes me an average of one and a half to two days to make a quality care plan that a teacher will accept. There are a lot of components and planning that goes into writing one - do not short change yourself on time. 

2. Make sure that you have all of the information you need. The hospitals allow you to see all of the information on your patient, and if you ask politely your patient will answer personal questions for you. I would suggest printing out your Care Plan template so you know exactly what you need and can print or ask that information while you are on the unit. You will not have access to gather information after you leave, and you don't want to make things up! 

3. Proof read! Be sure that everything you are including in your care plan is necessary and written correctly. Always make sure that your formatting is easy to read and flows accordingly.

4. Save, save, save your work. While I was writing my first care plan my computer decided to randomly reboot right while I was in the middle of writing out the longest section (the NICS/NOCS). After I lost all of my work for that section I always made sure to save after every major component was finished. 

5. Buy a Nursing Diagnosis book. In my program a nursing diagnosis book is included in the book bundle we are offered through our school, and it has been an incredible lifesaver. I have used the same one for two years and it has served me well and remained current. In the book each nursing diagnosis is divided by categories, and each diagnosis has a dedicated page where they dissect each Nursing Intervention and Nursing Outcome associated with the diagnosis - making filling out the NICS/NOCS chart very easy. 


Nursing care plans can be a beast when you've never had to write one before (and guess what, you'll never have to write one after nursing school!) - but once you have a few under your belt, they will be easier to write and you will know exactly what information to look for in your patient's history. Practice makes perfect and the assignment is really designed to help you piece together all of the information and see the big picture!


Thank you so much for reading!
- Michelle
 #BSNbabe