Gayle Clark

Abstract

Structured nursing care plans are recognized tools in the effective utilization of the nursing process. Community health nursing services have not commonly used structured nursing care plans. The purpose of this study was to improve the management of patient problems through the deliberate use of the nursing process by providing the public health nurse with a structured nursing care plan. A plan was developed which consisted of a nursing history outline, a plan for action tool, and an evaluation form.

The nursing problem of milk anemia was selected to be managed by public health nurses in the study. Six nurses were divided into experimental and control groups and followed nine anemic young preschool children. In managing the problem of milk anemia, the control nurses did their routine home visits. The experimental nurses used the structured nursing care plan in the management of the patient problem.

Evaluation of the effects of the nursing care plan on problem management were made in terms of the progress of the patient and in terms of the indications by the nurses of the utilization of the nursing process phase of assessment, intervention, and evaluation. The results and conclusions were that there was a statistically significant difference in the increase of the hemoglobin values of the study group of children and the study group scored significantly higher than the control group in the indication of their utilization of the nursing process. There was no statistically significant difference between the scores of the two groups in the areas of (a) listing of iron-rich foods by the mother, (b) using iron-rich foods in the diet of the child, and (c) intentionally reducing the milk intake of the child. However, replication of the study with a sample of twenty children or more might validate as significant the trend for a difference seen in this study.

LLU Discipline

Nursing

Department

Nursing

School

Graduate School

First Advisor

Ruth M. White

Second Advisor

Lucile Lewis

Third Advisor

Grenith J. Zimmerman

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Degree Level

M.S.

Year Degree Awarded

1972

Date (Title Page)

8-1972

Language

English

Library of Congress/MESH Subject Headings

Community Health Nursing

Type

Thesis

Page Count

vi; 69

Digital Format

PDF

Digital Publisher

Loma Linda University Libraries

Usage Rights

This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Collection

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collection Website

http://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/

Repository

Loma Linda University. Del E. Webb Memorial Library. University Archives

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