Using nursing care plans to support effective working

摘要

Nursing care plans provide an organised framework to facilitate and record the assessment, planning and implementation of nursing care. They have the potential to improve patient care by supporting individually tailored treatment and may also be used as a tool to improve communication between members of the multidisciplinary team, and between the team and their clients. This article highlights the importance of care plans for patient care, and discusses their use by the entire multidisciplinary team with the aim of promoting more effective working practices.