Nurses' attitudes towards care plans

Abstract

This study aims to discover nurses' attitudes towards care plans, and to identify whether these are influenced by a nurse's grade and the type of education received. It also attempts to answer what nurses understand by care plans and how these are most useful to them. A survey was conducted over a period of five days, using a questionnaire as a tool for collecting data. The sample included all of the nurse managers, staff nurses and enrolled nurses working on one of the wards in Zammit Clapp Hospital. The results seem to demonstrate that an overall positive attitude towards care plans is exhibited, the enrolled nurses exhibiting the most positive attitude, followed by the nurse managers and finally the staff nurses. Education seems to have a positive effect on attitude towards care plans. The nurses seem to demonstrate an awareness of the nursing process and a basic understanding of care planning. Further research is needed, preferably using interviews and observation for the collection of data. This would allow the subjects to expand on their response and would demonstrate what actually takes place.