Stroke Nursing Diagnosis (Full Nursing Care Plan Review!)

In this video, I am going to go through some possible nursing diagnoses for stroke as well as a full nursing care plan. We will walk through the full care plan so you know how to pick a stroke nursing diagnosis and complete your nursing care plan for stroke and use it as an example when you write your other care plans in nursing school. Let's dive in. Now, before we start, let's quickly review the three major parts to a nursing diagnosis. Now you have the actual nursing diagnosis. You've got the related two factor and the as evidenced by portion. Now, I also have a free care plan cheat sheet to help you select the best nursing diagnosis for your patient and prioritize them properly so you can ace your care plans. Of course, that's what we're going for, so be sure to get that after you watch this video. I'm going to put the link down below in the description for you to snag that free cheat sheet. So the first part is the nursing diagnosis. This is a NANDA approved diagnosis. The best part about this is that it is standardized, okay? This is not something that you have to make up on your own. Actually, please don't make it up on your own. You don't create it yourself, they're already made for you. You just pick the one that most closely represents your patient from that standardized list of NANDA approved nursing diagnoses. Now the second part is the related two factor, the related to section of the R T. This related to section is where the pathophysiology comes into play. I want you to be thinking patho, okay? This is what's happening inside the body with whatever disorder your patient is experienc and why based on that patho. Now, the third part of your nursing care plan diagnosis is the as evidenced by or the AEB section. These are the signs and symptoms that you are seeing in your patient, okay? These are very specific to your patient. So use what you would clinically be seeing or might be seeing with this particular diagnosis, okay? That's where you would put this. What signs and symptoms is your patient presenting with? So that is the nursing diagnosis section in a nutshell, which is the first part of your care plan. Okay? We actually have a full video on how to pick the best NANDA nursing diagnosis for your patient. So be sure to check that video out right here after you watch this video. So now that we've gone through those three major components of a nursing diagnosis, now let's start to dive into what a nursing care plan of stroke might consist of. Okay? Let's get specific. So some possible nursing diagnoses for stroke from that NANDA approved list, right? Could be things like anxiety, ineffective tissue perfusion, and a risk for decreased cardiac output. Now, this is often where nursing students get stuck, okay? You do not come up with these on your own. Like I said, they are standardized and they come from that list of NANDA approved nursing diagnoses. So you don't have to come up with these on your own. Actually, please don't make them up. Like I said, you just have to make sure that you are picking ones that are most applicable to your patient and their current condition. Okay? And these three that we talked about would fit for stroke. Now that's how you come up with that first part of your nursing care plan, okay? Pick the most applicable nursing diagnosis from that standardized list and then make sure that they apply to your patient and their current condition, which for this patient, we are talking here about stroke. Now, if you've been around here for a while, you know that I love passing along helpful resources. You've probably heard me mention this book once or twice. It's a super awesome care plan book. It's called the Nursing Diagnosis Handbook by Akali and Ladwig. And it has all of the nursing diagnoses laid out for you, okay? Along with everything else you need to write your care plan. It is so helpful. This book is an amazing resource. I highly recommend that you snag it because remember that nursing diagnosis list. Friend, I cannot tell you these are standardized. You can't just make them up. All you need to do is pull from the list and you are good to go. I seriously get emails from students all the time saying, where do I find these? How do I make them up? You don't make them up. Okay? That's why I'm really driving that point home. Now, moving on to the second portion of your nursing diagnosis in your nursing care plan, this section tends to be super helpful. When you do it correctly, it can really help you critically think and connect the dots between concepts. The related to section of your nursing diagnosis. This is where you dove into what is actually happening with your patient. Now, the key here is the pathophysiology. Of course, what is going on in the body and why? So with stroke, depending on what type of stroke we're talking about hemorrhagic stroke or ischemic stroke, there's a lack of blood flow going to the appropriate areas of the brain, right? With ischemic stroke, the blood flow is blocked by a clot. Then with a hemorrhagic stroke. This is decreased blood flow. It can happen in two different ways. First, it could be the ruptured vessel isn't intact to allow blood to pass through to where it needs to go. And then second, that blood is accumulating around the brain, which then puts pressure on the brain and then further decreases the blood flow because of that increased pressure on the brain. Now, both of these cause cell death and brain damage since there isn't enough blood flow getting to brain. Now, with that information, we can have a better understanding of what is happening inside the brain with a stroke. And then from there, we can come up with the related to section for our stroke care plan. So three good possible options for the related to section could be a loss of blood flow, rupture vessel, or if your nursing diagnosis was anxiety, could be a fear of death or interventions. So again, the key portion with the related to part of your nursing care plan is to make sure that you are applying, applying it to the pathophysiology of the disorder and then it applies to the nursing diagnosis that you chose. Okay? So you need to really know your patient, right? And you need to know the path of what's going on with their particular situation. And with stroke, that means understanding what each type of stroke means and what happens in the body with each one. Now, the third portion of your nursing diagnosis for your care plan is that as evidenced by portion or the AEB section here, this is where you will pull together the signs and symptoms that you were seeing in your specific patient. So you've already completed the nursing diagnosis to the, to the patho, and now you're going to take it one step further. You're going to connect the patho to what your patient might be clinically looking like, okay? What you as the nurse are seeing clinically with this patient, their signs and symptoms. So in the case of a stroke, some examples of symptoms that you might see, these could be things like alterations in circulation, okay, Vital sign changes, alterations in their level of consciousness, of course, alterations in sensation, their inability to communicate, or paralysis. Now, these all have to do with directly with what is, what we understand is happening in the body. When there is a stroke happening, the brain one way or another isn't getting the oxygenated blood that it needs to function properly. So these are some of the symptoms that you might see in your patient who has had a stroke. It can be easy to think of nursing care plans as just another assignment to get through something that you just have to do. But if you really take the time to dive into these symptoms that your patient is experiencing and really connect them to that pathophysiology. You'll really be fostering those critical thinking skills that are essential for your nursing school exams as well as your future care of your patients. It is so important to fully understand what what is happening with your patient and why. Not to mention that it will help you feel like doing a nursing care plan isn't just a bunch of busy work, but it's a chance to really deepen and dive into what is really happening with your patient, connecting the dots between concepts and really doing that critical thinking. So now that we've got that nursing diagnosis part down, let's walk through some of the possible patient goals and the nursing interventions that you might do for your patient. Okay? That way you'll have a complete stroke care plan to use as an example. So here is how this works. Now, I will be taking these from the stroke care plan we have inside the nursing SOS Membership community, the nmc. So if you want tons of care plans, study guides and videos, hundreds of step by step videos and cheat sheets to help you pass nursing school, be sure to check the community out. Now I'm going to put a link down below in the description for you to check out the details on that. So some possible patient goals that you might use for your care plan for stroke could be things like the patient will maintain adequate cardiac output with a stable heart rate and blood pressure. The patient will maintain adequate perfusion. So good. The patient will demonstrate positive coping mechanisms and anxiety reduction techniques. The patient will maintain improved tissue perfusion and the patient will understand the risk of treatment, medications given and diagnostic tests. Now, a key thing to know about patient goals is that they should be written like we did, as the patient will. These are all focused on goals for the patient. Now in the next section, we'll walk through the things that you'll need to do as the nurse to help the patient meet these goals. But for now, in this section, right, it's focused only on the goals for the patient. So it's the patient. Well now this brings us to the next section of your nursing care plan. This is the nursing interventions section. So some possible nursing interventions that you could use in your stroke care plan are things like the nurse will provide a low stimulation environment promoting rest. The nurse will explain all procedures, medications and treatments thoroughly. So good. The nurse will continue to monitor the patient's profusion status. Of course, the nurse will continue to monitor the patient's vital signs. The nurse will administer medications as prescribed so this section is all about things that you will be doing as the nurse help your patient. So these are all written as the nurse will, okay? And the last section of your nursing care plan is the evaluation section, which is basically just the nursing assessment all over again. Okay? You will state whether or not the patient met their goal and if the goal wasn't met, you will write out what progress did they make and what changes that you need to do to their care plan to help them reach their goal. And you'll give your recommendations for changing the care plan to really improve the patient outcomes that help them reach their goal. Now, if you want more care plan examples, be sure to check this video out here. And if you love this video and you want more care plan videos like this one, write love in the comments below. Your feedback really, really helps me to know what videos you want to see more of. And as always, my friend, go become the nurse that God created only you to be. And I will see you over there in that next video.