Pediatric Nursing Care Plans - Research Paper Example

As a practitioner, the nurse attends to all the medical needs of the patient and as a leader she takes decisions which relate to, influence and facilitate the actions of others with an aim to achieve a particular goal. As a researcher, the nurse aims to implement studies to determine the actual effects of nursing care and to work towards further improvement in nursing care (Nettina, 2006). As far as taking care of children is concerned, the role of nurses is further emphasized. Though, traditionally the care of the child has been the responsibility of family members; children merit special attention from health care providers too. The role of nursing is authenticated in helping people move towards independence in all activities of daily living. They take up the role of a family member. Their actions have an impact on the individual and affect their levels of dependence/independence and these include biological, psychological, socio-cultural, environmental and politico-economic variables (Roper et al, 2002). The steps in the nursing process are assessment, nursing diagnosis, planning, implementation and evaluation (Baillie, 2005; Nettina, 2006). Assessment is the systematic collection of data which are markers of the health status of the individual and help in identifying any health related problems. Nursing diagnosis is the actual identification of the disease process which needs to be dealt with. Planning is a process of setting health related goals that are aimed to resolve the potential health problems. identified by means of nursing diagnosis. Implementation is the means of delivering the plan to achieve the set goals. Evaluation is determination of patient's response to the interventions made towards the achievement of goal (Nettina, 2006).

Nursing care plans
Consumers of health care expect a certain standard of care that is affordable and has optimal outcomes. The need for health care services that are expensive are scrutinized by third party providers. The outcomes of health are reported by the health care organizations to federal, state and independent agencies with intentions to verify standards of practice and also to attract health providers and consumers. There is demand for treatment that is most effective and also cost efficient. Thus, there is collaborative responsibility for restoring clients to health and this is demonstrated by clinical pathway or care maps. These are also known as nursing care plans and they are defined as "care management tools that outline the expected clinical course and outcomes for specific client type” (Luxner and Jaffe, 2005). Nursing care plans are very essential for continuum of care. The construction of plans is usually agency specific, "but it typically follows the client's length of stay on a day-to-day basis for specific disease process or ...Show more