Care Planning Essentials
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This set covers foundational concepts in nursing care management: planning, documentation, ethical principles, and client rights.
Management of Care is the heaviest-weighted area of the NCLEX-RN, and these eight terms anchor the questions it asks most: which client to see first, how to document care that stands up to review, and how autonomy and advance directives shape what the nurse may — and may not — do. Most items here are judgment calls, so knowing the vocabulary cold buys you time for the thinking.
Terms in this set
- Discharge The formal process of safely transitioning a patient out of the care setting with education, referrals, and follow-up arranged.
- Documentation The legal and professional record of all care provided, assessments made, and communications regarding a client.
- Priority The process of determining the order of client care based on urgency, safety, and the availability of resources.
- Autonomy The ethical principle recognizing a competent patient's right to make informed decisions about their own healthcare, including the right to refuse treatment.
- Ethics The moral principles that guide nursing practice, including autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, justice, fidelity, and veracity.
- Outcome A measurable change in a patient's health status, knowledge, or behavior resulting from nursing care interventions.
- Directive A legal document such as a living will or durable power of attorney for healthcare that communicates a patient's future care wishes.
- Incident An unexpected event that has or could have caused harm to a patient, staff member, or visitor in the healthcare setting.