Developing a care plan for intensive care

Abstract

This article is a description of the development of a nursing care plan for intensive care. It began as an exercise to develop a care plan based on the Roper model of nursing (Roper et al., 1983). The development of the care plans was facilitated by a visit to the clinical teacher in the intensive therapy unit (ITU) of another hospital who had already developed a nursing care plan for ITU. This has undergone modifications to make it easier to use in the unit where the author works. The project was also facilitated by the Senior Tutor, Department of Continuing Education, from another hospital who led workshops on the use of nursing models for the benefit of the teaching staff and Sisters involved with English National Board (ENB) courses at Charing Cross Hospital. Although the ITU nursing staff were initially opposed to the use of nursing care plans they became involved in developing them and found them very helpful after a few months.