Describe what a care plan entails; steps include assessment, nursing diagnosis, planning, implementation and evaluation.
Give students examples of care plans and ask them to discuss why each particular course of action was chosen.
Ask students to research the purpose and design of care plans for their homework.
Use scenarios. Give each student, or group or students, a medical record or scenario and ask them to write a hypothetical care plan for the patient. Ask students to present their care plans to the class and start a group discussion on what can be improved or changed in each plan. Getting the students to analyze their work helps them to understand how care plans are formed.
Practice on patients. The best way to check students' understanding of care plans is to ask them to create plans for real patients. During work-experience placement sessions, request that students be given responsibility for care-plan creation (using assistance from a registered nurse.)
Give feedback. Evaluate each student's performance based on his understanding of, and ability to create, care plans. Mark each student based on pre-arranged criteria. Initiate a one-on-one feedback session with each student, giving them points for improvement.