Nursing Care Plan Interventions

Nursing care plan interventions describe specific actions taken by long term care staff members o achieve the stated goal, and are based on standards of clinical practice. 

The Code of Federal Regulations, F281, states that the services provided or arranged by the facility must meet professional standards of quality and be provided by qualified persons in accordance with each resident’s written nursing care plan. 

Like goals, interventions need to be specific, measurable, appropriate, and realistic. Interventions are worded in terms of what the staff will do to assist the resident to meet the stated goals for the problem, such as: 

Offer resident four ounces of fluid eight times per day. 

“Professional standards of quality” means services that are provided according to accepted standards of clinical practice. Standards regarding quality care practices may be published by a professional organization, licensing board, accreditation body or other regulatory agency. 

Recommended practices to achieve desired resident outcomes may also be found in clinical literature. Possible reference sources for standards of practice include such sources as: 

Current manuals or textbooks on nursing, social work, physical therapy, etc. 

Standards published by professional organizations such as the American Dietetic Association, American Medical Association, American Medical Director’s Association, American Nurses Association, National Association of Activity Professionals, etc. 

Clinical practice guidelines published by the Agency of Health Care Policy and Research 

Current professional journal articles 

Read more about how to write nursing care plans in the book Complete Care Plans for Long Term Care - 143 nursing care plans in the book and on the CD can be made resident specific and converted to I-care plans in one click.