Nursing care plans are fundamental tools in healthcare, serving as structured guides for patient assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation. For nursing students and professionals in the UK, accessing reliable, free templates can be an invaluable resource for educational and practical purposes. The provided source materials detail several platforms offering complimentary nursing care plan templates and examples, primarily for educational use. This article synthesises this information to outline what is available, the conditions covered, and the intended use of these free resources.
Understanding Nursing Care Plans
A nursing care plan is a formal document used by registered nurses, nurse practitioners, and clinical nursing staff. It serves as a guide for developing an organised approach to patient care and outlines a specific plan of action for the nurse to follow. Typically, a care plan is created after a nurse has assessed a patient's health status and identified their needs. It is not completed by the client or patient but is a professional tool developed by the nursing team.
The sources indicate that care plans are commonly used when a patient is admitted to a hospital or any other healthcare setting. They are an integral part of the nursing process, which involves a systematic, patient-centred method of providing care. This process includes assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation. Mastering care planning is emphasised as a way to improve patient outcomes, boost professional confidence, and enhance job satisfaction for nurses.
Accessing Free Nursing Care Plan Templates
Several online platforms provide free nursing care plan templates and examples. These resources are designed to assist nursing students and pre-nursing students in understanding how care plans are structured and created. It is crucial to note that these templates are explicitly intended for educational purposes only and are not designed to be actual treatment protocols for patients.
Registered Nurse RN (registerednursern.com)
This website offers a free care plan database for nurses and nursing students. The plans are presented online to give students an idea of how care plans are arranged, organised, and created in a nursing school context. The site strongly advises students to view these plans to aid their understanding and to practice creating their own, but warns against copying them as homework. The educational intent is clear, and the site provides examples for specific conditions. For instance, a nursing care plan for atopic dermatitis is provided, focusing on a patient experiencing an allergic response to poison ivy with extreme pruritus. Another example details a care plan for patients experiencing substance abuse, covering common substances like alcohol, heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine, and associated risks such as depression and sexually transmitted diseases. Additional examples listed include plans for pulmonary embolism, self-care deficit syndrome, and a range of respiratory conditions including ineffective gas exchange, ineffective airway clearance, pneumonia, COPD, emphysema, and the common cold.
PrintBlame (printblame.com)
PrintBlame offers free nursing care plan PDFs that can be used for print or on PDF annotation programs like Goodnotes. To use these templates, users are instructed to click on the preferred design image, which opens a PDF in a new tab for saving or printing. The site suggests that some designs have additional features or layouts that might better match an individual's workflow. These templates are positioned as a tool for optimal patient management and are recommended for use alongside other resources such as nurse brain sheets, patient planners, and history templates.
Carepatron (carepatron.com)
Carepatron provides a platform for nursing care plans, which are used by registered nurses and clinical staff. The site clarifies that a care plan is typically used when a patient has been admitted to a hospital or healthcare setting and is created by the nurse after assessment. Importantly, Carepatron offers a free tier for its software, which includes unlimited clients, telehealth capabilities, 1GB of storage, client portal text, and automated billing and online payments, with no credit card required. This suggests a more comprehensive, software-based approach to care planning, though the free tier's specifics are for the software platform rather than standalone PDF templates.
NurseTogether (nursetogether.com)
NurseTogether provides nursing care plans that are written and reviewed by registered nurses. The site offers a wide range of care plans organised by medical specialty. For example, under the Cardiac category, plans are available for conditions such as atrial fibrillation, bradycardia, cardiomyopathy, chest pain (angina), coronary artery disease, heart failure, hypertension, hypotension, myocardial infarction, pulmonary embolism, tachycardia, and tetralogy of Fallot. Other categories include Endocrine & Metabolic (covering diabetes mellitus, diabetic foot ulcer, diabetic ketoacidosis, hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, and various electrolyte imbalances), Gastrointestinal (e.g., abdominal pain, appendicitis, bowel perforation, Crohn’s disease), Genitourinary (e.g., acute kidney injury, chronic kidney disease, urinary tract infection), Hematologic & Lymphatic (e.g., anaphylaxis, anemia, deep vein thrombosis), and Infectious Diseases (including Human Immunodeficiency Virus).
SimpleNursing (simplenursing.com)
SimpleNursing provides an example nursing care plan for hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetes. This plan focuses on managing imbalanced nutrition, promoting lifestyle changes, ensuring medication adherence, and monitoring blood glucose levels. The example includes a nursing diagnosis of "Imbalanced Nutrition: More than Body Requirements," with related factors such as excessive caloric intake, sedentary lifestyle, insulin resistance, and inconsistent medication adherence. It outlines expected outcomes, both short-term (e.g., achieving specific blood glucose levels, understanding carbohydrate counting) and long-term (e.g., achieving 5-10% weight loss). The source also references the importance of the 5-step nursing process and making care plans SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound), individualised, and evidence-based.
ForTheNurse (blog.forthenurse.us)
This blog post emphasises the importance of mastering care planning for improved outcomes and professional development. It provides key takeaways, including using the 5-step nursing process, creating SMART goals, documenting accurately, leveraging digital tools, and communicating across teams. The post includes quick-reference tables for common nursing diagnoses and interventions, as well as SMART goal examples for scenarios like hypertension, postoperative mobility, diabetes education, and anxiety reduction.
Key Considerations for UK Users
While these resources are valuable, UK-based nursing students and professionals should be aware of several contextual factors. The primary purpose of these free templates is educational. They are not a substitute for institutional guidelines, local NHS protocols, or personalised patient care plans developed within a clinical setting. The examples and templates provided are based on general medical conditions and nursing principles, which are broadly applicable, but always require adaptation to the specific patient, clinical environment, and local regulations.
Furthermore, the sources do not specify geographic restrictions for accessing these online resources. As they are digital templates and educational articles, they are generally accessible from the UK. However, the clinical application of these plans must always adhere to UK-specific nursing standards, guidelines from the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), and the policies of the employing healthcare institution.
Conclusion
A variety of free nursing care plan templates and examples are available online through platforms like Registered Nurse RN, PrintBlame, Carepatron, NurseTogether, SimpleNursing, and ForTheNurse. These resources cover a broad spectrum of medical conditions across multiple specialties and are designed to support the educational journey of nursing students and provide reference material for professionals. Their primary value lies in illustrating the structure, components, and thought process behind effective nursing care plans. For UK consumers, particularly students and nurses, these free resources can serve as a useful starting point for learning and practice, provided they are used within their intended educational context and always supplemented by formal clinical training and adherence to local healthcare standards.