Documentation of care plans by Registered Nurses (RN) within acute care is imperative. There is scant research related to the experiences of nurses with written care plans within this context. The purpose of this study was to describe RN’s experiences with care plan practice. Qualitative descriptive methodology informed by a socio-ecological perspective was used to conduct this inquiry. Ten participants were recruited from four medical/surgical settings. Six RNs, two Clinical Educators and two Health Service Managers participated in semi-structured interviews. Two themes with associated sub-themes were derived utilizing thematic analysis: Unwritten Care Planning and Modernizing Care Planning. Study findings concluded that unwritten care planning was the experience described by participants. Factors influencing participant’s experiences of care planning included unclaimed accountability, care delivery processes and context of care. Participants also described strategies to enhance care planning practice. This research can guide practice improvements and builds upon existing care plan research.

Källberg P, Lourenco Calling M. En kvalitativ enkätundersökning/fältstudie om sjuksköterskors inställning till användandet av Standardvårdplaner(SVP).Examensarbete i omvårdnad, 15 högskolepoäng. Malmö Högskola. Fakulteten för Hälsa och Samhälle, Avdelningen för Omvårdnad, 2009.Syftet med denna empiriska enkätstudie var att ta reda på sjuksköterskors inställning till användandet av standardvårdplaner (SVP), avseende användarvänlighet, kvalitetssäkerhet, dokumentation, SVP som ett arbetsredskap och införandet av SVP.35 sjuksköterskor på två avdelningar på ett sjukhus i södra Sverige blev tillfrågade att delta i studien och 17 bestämde sig för att deltaga.Till slut delades det analyserade materialet in i fyra kategorier, med samma namn som nämns i syftet, användarvänlighet, kvalitetssäkerhet, dokumentation, SVP som ett arbetsredskap/införandet av SVP. Majoriteten av sjuksköterskorna som deltog i studien hade en positiv helhetsbild av SVP:n, men de flesta tyckte att den behövde vidareutvecklas för att få bättre struktur, då den ibland skapar mer arbete istället för att vara ett hjälpredskap.Nyckelord: arbetsredskap, dokumentation, enkätstudie, kvalitet, sjuksköterskors inställning, standardvårdplan. / Källberg P, Lourenco Calling M. A qualitative/quantitative survey study about nurse´s attitude to the application of Standardized Care Plan (SCP).Degree project, 15 credit Points. Malmö University. Faculty of Healh and Society, Department of nursing, 2009.The aim of this quantitative survey study was to examine nurse´s attitudes to the application of Standardized Care Plans (SCP), regarding their usability, quality assurance, documentation, SCP as a tool and the process of introducing a SCP.35 nurses who worked in a hospital in south Sweden were asked to participate and 17 nurses were the actual number of nurses who participated in the study. Finally the result was sorted into the four main themes, as numbered before; usability, quality assurance, documentation, SCP as a tool /the process of introducing a SCP. The majority of nurses have an all together positive attitude towards Standardized Care Plans but some of them are of the opinion that it needs further development for better structure, though it is sometimes considered as a workload instead of a help.Keywords: documentation, nurse´s attitude, Standardized Care Plan, survey study, tool, quality.

Bakgrund: Studier visar på att användandet av omvårdnadsdiagnoser har flera fördelar för sjuksköterskans omvårdnadsarbete. De främjar patientens delaktighet i vården samt uppmärksammar sjuksköterskan på patientens omvårdnadsbehov. Andra studier visar på att standardvårdplaner upplevs effektivisera sjuksköterskans omvårdnadsdokumentation och bidra till en likvärdig och god kvalité på vården. Dock kan de anses vara oflexibla och därför behöva kompletteras med en individuell vårdplan.  Syfte: Syftet var att undersöka i vilken utsträckning omvårdnadsdiagnoser och -åtgärder dokumenterades och utfördes. Vidare undersöktes vilken typ av vårdplan som användes och om det gick att se någon skillnad mellan avdelningarna avseende omvårdnadsdokumentationen. Metod: Det utfördes en retrospektiv journalgranskningsstudie med innehållsanalys och kvantitativ analys, även en statistisk analys Mann-Whitney U test användes. Studien utfördes på två medicinska avdelningar och undersökningsgruppen var patienter med hjärtsvikt. Resultat: Totalt ingick 43 patientjournaler i studien. Det förekom omvårdnadsdiagnoser endast i ringa utsträckning. Det identifierades 259 omvårdnadsproblem som indelades i 34 olika kategorier. Det identifierades 193 omvårdnadsåtgärder, de delades in i 28 olika kategorier. På avdelning 1 var majoriteten av SVP-er kopplade till undersökningar/ingrepp, på avdelning 2 gällde majoriteten hjärtövervakning och utskrivningsplanering. Individuella vårdplaner förekom endast i ringa utsträckning. Det fanns en signifikant skillnad mellan avdelningarna gällande antalet utförda omvårdnadsåtgärder/journal och förekomsten av individuella vårdplaner. Slutsats: Omvårdnadsdokumentationen var bristfällig. Avdelningarna skulle behöva göra en översyn och utveckla arbetet med journalföringen. Flera och mer djupgående studier behöver genomföras inom området. / Background: The use ofnursing diagnoseshas severalbenefits fornursing care. Previous studies showthat they promotepatientparticipationin the nursing careand increase nurses’ awareness ofthe patient'scare needs.Other studies showthatstandardized care plansare perceived as promoting theefficiency ofnursingdocumentation andcontribute to anequitable andquality of the nursing care.However,by some nurses they are considered inflexible, andtherefore they have to be supplementedwith an individualcare plan. Aim: The aim of this study was to examine to what extent nursing diagnoses and interventions were documented and executed. Furthermore there was an examination as to what kind of standardized care plan was used and whether it was possible to see any differences between the departments regarding nursing documentation. Method: A retrospective medical record study with content analysis and quantitative analysis was conducted, even a statistical analysis, Mann-Whitney U test, was used. The studywas conducted ontwo medicalwards andthe study groupconsisted of patients with heart failure. Results: In total,43patient records were included in the study.Nursing diagnoses appearedonlyto a negligible extent. 259nursing problems were identified and divided into34different categories and 193nursing interventions were identified and partitioned into28 differentcategories.Onsection 1, the majority of the standardized care plansconcernedtreatments/interventions. The majority of standardized care plans onsection 2 concerned cardiac monitoringand dischargeplanning.Individualcare plansappeared only to a smallextent.There was asignificant difference between the departments regardingthe number of executednursing interventions per recordand the occurrence ofindividual care plans. Conclusion: The nursing documentation was inadequate. It would be advisable for the departments to conduct a reviewand developthe work ofthe nursing documentation. A greater number of studies, with additional depth, would have to be conducted.

With the advances in technology, the change of the healthcare environment, and the need for users, the use of computerized support systems or expert systems are able to cut down costs for unnecessary procedures, achieve higher levels of efficiency and productivity. Applied to the nursing department, it may provide good quality of care, decrease the time that nurses duplicate patient history, reduce nurses¡¦ burden and enhance the abilities to solve problems. The topic of this research mainly focused on the nursing department in the pediatric ward. I propose a framework for nursing knowledge management by using subjective data, objective data, assessment, and care plan (SOAP), which is used by the nursing staffs as a way of decision-making processes. The method is to collect subjective and objective data, read relevant clinical practice guidelines, make clinical judgments about patients¡¦ actual or potential problems and provide applicable nursing plans and interventions. The staffs review and make final decision to accept or reject these judgments, nursing plans and related interventions. If the staffs reject any judgment, nursing plan and intervention, the system should have inquiry-signs to ask physician and nursing staff. Then the staffs correct the inappropriateness. These clear and easy-to-follow processes help student nurses or beginning nurses cultivate their abilities to care and hope it can provide as a guide to nursing teaching and clinical patient care.

Evidenced based nursing seeks to integrate new knowledge from current research into practice. The use of clinical practice guidelines is one method of accomplishing this. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of differing clinical practice guideline representation formats on the quality of nursing care plans and on the experiences of nurses. To accomplish this, an experimental study taking place in a laboratory setting was executed. BC Cancer Agency nurses volunteered as the participants. The nurses were given case scenarios and asked to generate nursing care plans with the assistance of clinical practice guidelines. The clinical practice guidelines were presented in two formats: Portable Document Format (PDF) and Web Based Interactive (WBI). The quality of the care plans was rated using a validated evaluation tool. Participants were asked to ‘think-aloud’ during the care planning process and their experiences were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed through a cognitive task analysis. This study revealed advantages and disadvantages to both formats and provided insight into nurses' experiences. This study also showed no statistically significant difference in the quality of care plan documentation, regardless of clinical practice guideline format. This study highlights the importance of evaluating health informatics projects in healthcare settings to ensure positive outcomes in measures of user experience and measures of documentation quality. / Graduate / 0569 / 0758 / 0984 / csimad@gmail.com

SAMMANFATTNING Syfte: Syftet med detta arbete var att undersöka sjuksköterskors uppfattning om omvårdnadsdokumentation och dess påverkan på omvårdnadsarbetet. Metod: Kvalitativ intervjustudie med innehållsanalys enligt Lundman och Hällgren Graneheim (2008). Bekvämlighetsurval med fem sjuksköterskor från olika avdelningar på ett Universitetssjukhus i Mellansverige. Resultat: Sjuksköterskor i denna studie uppfattade att dokumentationen tar tid, det är mycket som ska dokumenteras och att kvalitén varierade. De uppfattade också att information kunde gå förlorad på grund av att många skrev på flera olika ställen. Dokumentationen upplevdes ibland som inkonsekvent eftersom sjuksköterskorna inte dokumenterade exakt lika. De belyste också att systemet var rörigt och ologiskt. Dokumentationen upplevdes ge vägledning. Det är viktigt att samarbeta mellan olika professioner samt att dokumentationen följs upp av den som tar efter. Sjuksköterskorna prioriterade det medicinska framför omvårdnaden och arbetsbördan gjorde det svårt att hinna dokumentera. Dokumentationen synliggjorde omvårdnaden samt att den kunde användas för att utvärdera vården. Slutsats: Sjuksköterskor uppfattade dokumentation som problematisk och tidsödande. Samtidigt tyckte de att det fanns vinster med dokumentation då det gav patientsäkerhet och kunde användas för att utvärdera vården. Mer arbete behövs för att nå konsensus i hur dokumentation på avdelning skall se ut. Det behövs mer forskning kring hur dokumentation påverkar omvårdnadsarbetet. / ABSTRACT Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate nurses’ perception of nursing documentation and its impact on nursing. Method: Qualitative interview study with content analysis according to Lundman and Hällgren Graneheim (2008). Convenience sample of five nurses from different wards of a University hospital in central Sweden. Result: Nurses in this study perceived the documentation as time consuming, there is a lot to be documented and that the quality varied. They also observed that the information could be lost due to many writing in several different places. The documentation is sometimes perceived as inconsistent because nurses did not document exactly alike. They also highlighted that the system was messy and illogical. Documentation was perceived as giving guidance. It is important to cooperate between different professions and that the documentation is followed up by the next person. The nurses prioritized the medical instead of nursing care and workload made ​​it difficult to find time to document. Documentation made​​ nursing care visible and it could be used to evaluate healthcare. Conclusion: Nurses perceived documentation as problematic and time consuming. They also thought there were gains of documentation when it gave patient safety and could be used to evaluate care. More work is needed to reach consensus in the documentation should be carried out. More research is required on how documentation affects nursing.

The purpose of this study was to identify the characteristics of cancer patients and the most frequently chosen nursing diagnoses, outcomes and interventions chosen for care plans from a large Midwestern acute care hospital. In addition the patients' outcome change scores and length of stay from the four oncology specialty units are investigated. Donabedian's structure-process-outcome model is the framework for this study. This is a descriptive retrospective study. The sample included a total of 2,237 patients admitted on four oncology units from June 1 to December 31, 2010. Data were retrieved from medical records, the nursing documentation system, and the tumor registry center. Demographics showed that 63% of the inpatients were female, 89% were white, 53 % were married and 26% were retired. Most patients returned home (82%); and 2% died in the hospital. Descriptive analysis identified that the most common nursing diagnoses for oncology inpatients were Acute Pain (78%), Risk for Infection (31%), and Nausea (26%). Each cancer patient had approximately 3.1 nursing diagnoses (SD=2.5), 6.3 nursing interventions (SD=5.1), and 3.7 nursing outcomes (SD=2.9). Characteristics of the patients were not found to be related to LOS (M=3.7) or outcome change scores for Pain Level among the patients with Acute Pain. Specifically, 88% of patients retained or improved outcome change scores. The most common linkage of NANDA-I, NOC, and NIC (NNN), a set of standardized nursing terminologies used in the study that represents nursing diagnoses, nursing-sensitive patient outcomes and nursing interventions, prospectively, was Acute Pain--Pain Level--Pain Management. Pain was the dominant concept in the nursing care provided to oncology patients. Risk for Infection was the most frequent nursing diagnosis in the Adult Leukemia and Bone Transplant Unit. Patients with both Acute Pain and Risk for Infection may differ among units; while the traditional study strategies rarely demonstrate this finding. Identifying the pattern of core diagnoses, interventions, and outcomes for oncology nurses can direct nursing care in clinical practice and provide direction for future research tot targets areas of high impact and guide education and evaluation of nurse competencies.

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Improvement of patient care in any hospital depends primarily on the quality of nursing care. Nursing care is enhanced by the nursing process, which outlines the nursing activities to be provided for a patient. The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent the nursing process could improve the quality of nursing care, and to explore the knowledge limitations of nursing staff in implementing the nursing process, nursing care planning and proper documentation. Quantitative research, making use of an exploratory, descriptive and contextual design was conducted, utilising a structured questionnaire for data collection. Registered nurses (n=120) employed at a Referral Hospital in Tanzania served as the respondents. The findings revealed a lack of knowledge in understanding and applying the concepts of the nursing process, especially in formulating the nursing diagnosis. Recommendations pertaining to a focused in-service training programme, integrating theory and practice, were made to enhance the effective implementation of the nursing process. / Health Studies / MA (Health Studies)