Soooo…let’s talk care plans. You know…those 50 or more page things that you hate doing. They take forever. You get almost no sleep the night before trying to get yours completed. You always miss something and it’s incomplete. And the biggest issue…you spend all those hours working on them over the span of your nursing school career and YOU DON’T EVEN COMPLETE CARE PLANS WHEN YOU WORK AS A NURSE! It’s a lot of clicking and you’re done! Well, let me burst your bubble. You ready? Take a deep breath, here it comes.
CARE PLANS ARE NOT DONE IN NURSING SCHOOL SO YOU WILL KNOW HOW TO DO ONE AS A NURSE. It is completely understood that care plans are essentially done for you when you are working as a nurse. You pick the one(s) you need, you select what parts you need and leave off the rest. So why in the world do your instructors make you do care plans? Why are they so detailed? Why do they grade them so meticulously? Because, care plans are completed to help you learn to prioritize. Care plans are done to help you understand what is appropriate vs. inappropriate in the care of your client. They are done to help you learn pharmacology, lab values, and diagnostic tests.
Have you ever stopped to ask yourself what else you have to do where you have to know how to prioritize? Something else that is coming that you have to know what are appropriate actions to take as the nurse? Where you have to know pharm? I’ll give you a hint. It’s a test. A REALLY BIG test. Probably the biggest test you will ever take in your life. That’s right! If you guessed the NCLEX, then you would be correct!
In almost every nursing program in America, care plans are done specifically to help you prepare for NCLEX! Many times, students are like, “I’ll worry about the NCLEX later. I just want to graduate first, then worry about NCLEX then.” If you have this mentality, this will automatically decrease your chances of passing on your first try. The NCLEX is extremely complex. Why not start trying to actively tackle this exam while you are still in nursing school?
Your instructors want you be successful at all stages of your career. But, they understand the importance of passing NCLEX more than you think. They have seen too many times where students have worked hard and persevered through 1-2 years of nursing school, only to fail the NCLEX. Only to not become the nurse they worked so hard to become. As frustrating as it is for you, it is also frustrating for your faculty.
So, the next time you have to complete a care plan that is graded hard, with a lot of feedback on it, remember the reason. The real reason. Start prepping for NCLEX now. I promise you won’t regret it!
I see you future nurse,
A.G.
