Nursing Care Plans - An Organizational Tool For Elder Care

Nursing care plans are used by professional care providers for hospital stays, nursing home care, where skilled nursing is needed, and for home care services. If you will be the home care provider, you can help construct a plan using criteria developed by the North American Nursing Diagnosis Association (NANDA).

Knowing what a plan entails will help you decide if any of the services can be handled by family or if they must be contracted out to a licensed professional or other provider.

For example, there is a plan for "Impaired Home Maintenance Management," i.e., your parent is not keeping up with personal hygiene, household chores, nutrition, etc., even though he believes he is still independent.

Assess the Problem

Each plan starts with a comprehensive assessment. The information will come from:

* The observations of family and friends (referred to as "signs" of a problem or disorder);
* Complaints or statements from the elder (called "symptoms");
* The elder's medical and social history;
* The observations and testing by one or more professionals.

Set Attainable Goals

From the assessment a list is made of any medical diagnoses and the daily challenges confronting the patient, family or relationship problems, and existing strengths and supports. If you are conducting this process yourself without input from health professionals, this is a good time to consult with the elder's primary care provider, who can help you interpret the information you have gathered and provide direction for next steps.

With your "challenges and strengths" list in hand, ask whether each problem area can improve. If so, then set a reasonable time to work on improvement, and assess whether improvement has been made at the end of this time period. It is important that this improvement be:

* Specific--a goal you are looking for (such as "grandpa can walk to the bathroom by himself", rather than that "grandpa is better")
* Measurable (you can list what will be done to reach the goal and when)
* Attainable (break big challenges into smaller steps).

If the challenge or problem presented is not going to improve, then your care plan can focus on preventing it from becoming worse. Again, specific, measurable and attainable goals are set.

Nursing care plans are useful organizational and brainstorming tools. They are not a substitute for professional advice and judgment. Please consult a physician or other professional where the health or safety of a loved one is concerned.

Consider A Consultant

When evaluating a nursing care plan or any other elder care, it is often helpful to consult an experienced, objective advisor as to how to plan and implement the services your elder requires and deserves. It is best to entrust your care only to those with the highest level of training, broad expertise, experience and ethical standards.

A variety of semi-professional organizations and franchises have arisen in response to the greater demands of our aging population. While some may be competent, carefully assess the reliability and accountability of any provider, as oversight laws are often slow to adapt to rapidly changing industries such as this.

Established professionals are already well regulated through government bodies and professional licensing organizations, providing a measure of comfort and security that you will be well served.