Genre Analysis

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The Care Plan OVERVIEW

Care plans describe the care services and support a patient

will receive from his or her healthcare team. They describe

patient needs, necessary actions, and care responsibilities. All

care plans should be based upon a thorough assessment of

the patient’s needs. As such, information should be gathered

from a variety of sources including the patient, the patient’s

family members, and the medical professionals involved with

patient care. Most importantly, while the care plan ultimately

serves many purposes, it should be written for the patient’s

benefit. Thus, they should be written in cooperation with the

patient or the patient’s caregiver when possible, use language

the patient/caregiver understands, and be formatted in a way

that meets the patient/caregiver’s needs.

CONTENT

Care plans should address the following questions:

• Why are we undertaking this plan of care? What led the

patient to seek care?

• What do we hope to achieve via the care plan?

• What actions will we take to achieve our care plan

goals?

• Who will perform what role in the implementation of

the care plan?

• Where will it be carried out? What locations?

• When will the care plan be complete? What are the

care timeframes or milestones?

Additionally, care plans should particularly emphasize the

patient’s role in carrying out the care plan, and it should

therefore focus on the patient’s strengths in order to

encourage the patient to take as much responsibility as

possible in the care process. Moreover, all care plans should

remain sensitive to the patient’s cultural, ethnic, or religious

backgrounds, in addition to his or her gender, gender identity,

and sexuality. Finally, care plans should identify any patient

needs that may not be met by the care plan being

undertaken.

On Audience The audience for a care plan will depend upon

the particular situation of the patient. For

example, if the patient seeks medical attention

for a relatively minor ailment, like a rash for

example, he or she would be capable of

undertaking a care plan his or herself and, as

such, would be the target audience of the care

plan. If the patient suffers from something more

severe that requires assistance from a caregiver

(family, friends, home health aide, etc.), the

care plan should be written with the caregiver

in mind as the target audience.

On Language and Formatting Care plans must be audience-focused in terms

of their content and organization, but also in

terms of their language and formatting. While

you should always tailor your care plan to the

needs of your specific audience, you can follow

these general tips to make all care plans more

inviting:

• Write in short simple sentences of no

more than 15-20 words • Write short blocks of text; use headings

when possible. • Leave white space between blocks of

information • Use present tense and active voice • Use bulleted or numbered list to

delineate lists of information or

sequential action steps • Consider the vision needs of your

audience when you decide what size

font you use or how largely you write.

Additional OWL Resources

• Paragraphing • Tense • Active Voice

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ORGANIZATION

While there is no one precise model that care plans must

follow, they should be organized in a way that emphasizes

the most important elements of the plan, and they should

make the purpose, actions, outcomes, and responsibilities

clear for anyone who reads it.

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Example Care Plan

Need

Relief for your painful sinus infection.

Actions

1. You will fill prescription for antibiotics at the CVS pharmacy near your home.

2. You will take the antibiotic once per day until they are all gone.

3. You will begin taking over-the-counter Flonase once per day to prevent future infections.

4. You will follow up with your regular doctor in two weeks.

Outcomes

You should experience pain relief within 24-48 hours after beginning the antibiotics. The

infection should be completely gone by the time you have completed your antibiotics. The

Flonase should help prevent future sinus infections.

Responsible

John Smith