Planning is an important step in the nursing process that involves critical thinking and determining how nurses can help patients. It is a continuous process that ensures comprehensive care. There are three types of planning: initial planning done after assessment, ongoing planning conducted by all nurses providing care, and discharge planning which prepares for patient needs after leaving care. Planning involves setting priorities among nursing diagnoses by ranking their importance to the patient's health and available resources. Priorities can be high for issues that could greatly harm health, intermediate for non-life threatening needs, or low for long-term needs not directly related to illness.

1. PLANNING
By-
DeveshwarP.Dwivedi

2. PLANNING
Planningistheimportantthirdstepofnursing
process.Itisa purposefulactivity which
involvescriticalthinking.
Planningisacontinuousprocess&firstmajor
step in the nursing process.It involves
determiningwhatthenursecandotohelpthe
patient & selecting appropriate nursing
interventionstoaccomplishhisplancarehelps
toensurecontinuity&completenessofcare.
DEFINITION
*AccordingtoKozier(1975)"Planningisa
deliberativesystematicphaseofthenursing
processthatinvolvesdecision makingand
problemsolving."
* According to Potterand Perry (2001)
"Planningisacategoryofnursingbehaviourin
whichclientcenteredgoalsareestablished

3. andinterventionsaredesignedtoachievethe
goals."
PURPOSESOFPLANNING
 Givedirectiontoclientcareactivities.
 Enhancethecontinuityofcare.
 Permit the delegation of specific
activities.
 Directclientcareactivities.
 Promotecontinuityofcare.
 FocuschartingRequirements.
 Allow for delegation of specific
activities.
TYPESOFPLANNING
Therearethreetypesofplanning.Theyare
initial planning, ongoing planning and
dischargeplanning.
I. Initial planning: The planning done

4. immediatelyaftertheinitialassessmentis
theinitialplanning.Itisdevelopedbythe
nursewhoperformstheadmissionnursing
history&physicalassessment.
2.Ongoingplanning:Theongoingplanningis
donebyallnurseswhogivecaretothe
client.Theycarryoutdailyplanningbyusing
ongoingassessment.Ongoingplanningis
the problem oriented planningwhich is
carriedoutbyanynursewhointeractswith
thepatientitsmainpurposeistokeepthe
planup-to-date.
3.Dischargeplanning:Dischargeplanningis
theprocessofplanningabouttheneeds
whichwilloccurafterthedischargeofclient.
Itisacrucialpartofcomprehensivehealth
careandshouldbeincludedineveryclient's
nursingcareplan.
PHASE OF PLANNING- Planning phase

5. consistsoffourstepswhichareasfollowing:
1.SETTINGPRIORITIES
Prioritysettingisaprocessofestablishinga
preferenceorderfornursingstrategies.Itisa
decisionmakingprocessthatrankstheorder
ofnursingdiagnosisintermsofimportance
totheclient.Nurse-identifiedprioritiesbased
ontheoverallpicture,thepatientasawhole

6. person,andavailabilityoftimeandresources.
Prioritiesareclassifiedas
2.HighPriority:Thenursingdiagnosis,if
nottreatedmaygivemoreharmtotheclient
orotherswhohavehighpriorities.
Example:ExampleofHighPriorityDiagnosis—
Ineffective airway clearance aftersurgery
relatedtoabdominalincisionpain.
Rationale— Becauseoftheriskofpost-
operativepulmonarycomplicationnursewill
institutepreventiveclienteducationearlyin
nursingcare.
3. Intermediate Priority: Nursing diagnosis
involves the non emergent, non life
threateningneedsoftheclient.
Example:Painrelatedtosurgicalprocedure.
Nursingdiagnosis:Imbalancednutrition
lessthanbodyrequirementsrelatedto
chronicdiarrheafor3weeks.
Rationale--Thisnursingdiagnosisdoesnot

7. affect client's immediate physiologicalor
emotionalstatusofhow priority Nursing
diagnosis.
4.Low Priority:Low prioritynursingdiagnosis
areclient'sneedswhichmaynotbedirectly
relatedtospecificillnessorprognosis.
Example:
Diagnosis: Deficit knowledge regarding
smokingcessationprogramme.
Rationale:Thisnursing diagnosisindicates
client'slongtermneeds.
Example in Priority setting in
NursingDiagnosisaHighPriority.