Renewing the Nursing Care Plan
Nurses have to write a care plan diagnosing every existing and potential health problem with a detailed description of what actions to take and what the goal is. This document sets the standard of care for all subsequent nurses to follow. Moreover, they have to review and revise this care plan every day. I have reviewed numerous hospital charts and have found many instances in which the care plans were missing or had not been updated after the day of admission. Although I do not condone this, I understand it. The nurses' task loads are usually so overwhelming that there is not enough time to practice nursing.
In summary, this long list of time-consuming clinical assessments is a revelation for most people. The most significant defect in the design of hospital structure is that the standard management practices of most hospitals actually impede the nurses and prevent them from giving you the true benefits of nursing care.
Consequently, all new nursing school graduates experience culture shock in making the transition to the hospital because their work assignments do not permit them to practice nursing in accordance with their education. The solution to this dilemma is for hospital managers to hire more ward clerks and nursing attendants. This would give nurses more time to practice nursing. Therefore, if you cannot get your nurse to stop for a few minutes and listen to you, find out if a ward clerk and nurse's aides are working on the floor. If not, you have an issue to take up with the administration. The more time that nurses can spend listening to what you have to say, diagnosing your responses, and planning and supervising your care, the safer your hospital stay will be. |
by T.Sharon
