A Nursing Care Plan for the Handicapped Student

The purpose of this paper is to encourage school nurses to document the nursing process when caring for the handicapped student. When the nursing process is properly documented, the result is the nursing care plan. This care plan identifies the diagnosed health needs and defines, in behavioral terms, the goals and interventions designed to meet those needs. A nursing care plan serves a three‐fold purpose: 1) It provides a framework to bring students to their maximum health potential; 2) It is applicable to the federally‐mandated Individualized Education Plan (IEP) because both are written with behavioral, student‐centered goals, and interventions; and 3) It demonstrates a clearly defined and essential role of the school nurse with the handicapped student. This paper presents the current concept of the nursing process and concludes with an example of the nursing care plan.