Nurse's Pocket Guide

ANOTHER APPROACH
TO PLANNING CLIENT
CARE—MIND MAPPING
Mind mapping starts in the center of the page with a representation
of the main concept—the client. (This helps keep in
mind that the client is the focus of the plan, not the medical
diagnosis or condition.) From that central thought, other main
ideas that relate to the client are added. Different concepts can
be grouped together by geometric shapes, color-coding, or by
placement on the page. Connections and interconnections
between groups of ideas are represented by the use of arrows or
lines with defining phrases added that explain how the interconnected
thoughts relate to one another. In this manner, many
different pieces of information about the client can be connected
directly to the client.
Whichever piece is chosen becomes the first layer of connections—clustered
assessment data, nursing diagnoses, or outcomes.
For example, a map could start with nursing diagnoses
featured as the first “branches,” each one being listed separately
in some way on the map. Next, the signs and symptoms or data
supporting the diagnoses could be added, or the plan could
begin with the client outcomes to be achieved with connections
then to nursing diagnoses. When the plan is completed, there
should be a nursing diagnosis (supported by subjective and
objective assessment data), nursing interventions, desired client
outcomes and any evaluation data, all connected in a manner
that shows there is a relationship between them. It is critical to
understand that there is no pre-set order for the pieces, because
one cluster is not more or less important than another (or one
is not “subsumed” under another). It is important, however, that
those pieces within a branch be in the same order in each
branch.
Figure 3-1 shows a mind map for Mr. R.S., the client with
type 2 diabetes in our Client Situation at the beginning of this
section of the chapter.
PUTTING THEORY INTO PRACTICE 63
Plan of Care