Beyond the Bedside: How Nurses Use Life Care Plans to Cultivate Quality of Life
Once again, nurses top Gallup’s annual Most Honest and Ethical Professions Poll for the 22nd consecutive year, as reported by the American Nurses Association. This recognition speaks volumes about the trust and respect that nurses have earned across the country. In celebration of their unwavering commitment and ethical standards, National Nurses Month is observed in May, a time to acknowledge the broad and impactful roles nurses play in our lives.
While nurses are traditionally associated with direct patient care roles such as critical care and home health, their expertise also spans into more specialized fields such as life care planning and nurse consulting. In these roles, nurses apply their detailed medical knowledge and clinical skills to assess needs and plan long-term care for injured and ill individuals.
How Nurses Contribute to Comprehensive Care Plans
As the healthcare system becomes increasingly complex, the need for professionals who can navigate the medical landscape is more important than ever. That's why registered nurses (RNs) and nurse practitioners (NPs), with their extensive experience in patient care, are ideal candidates for the roles of certified life care planner and nurse consultant.
The Benefits of Utilizing a Nurse Life Care Planner
Having a nurse life care planner as part of your long-term care journey has many advantages. Through hands-on experience across various medical conditions and injuries, a nurse brings their expert knowledge, effective communication, and comprehensive approach to create care plans and promote best outcomes.
Familiarity with the Complex Healthcare World
Another advantage of having a nurse as your life care planner is their familiarity with the healthcare realm. Nurses understand the complex web of patient care dynamics, including medical procedures, the intricacies of coordinating treatment with various healthcare providers, and the associated costs of care. Moreover, nurses typically maintain professional relationships with a broad network of medical specialists. These connections are invaluable in devising a life care plan that effectively integrates necessary medical treatments and therapies. Their insider perspective ensures that every aspect of a patient's long-term care is meticulously planned and coordinated.
Attention to Detail
Nurses are trained to be detail-oriented, and this skill is essential in life care planning. Life care plans require meticulous attention to detail, including medical research, treatment options, and costs associated with care. Nursing experience in patient care, medical terminology, and medical documentation enables them to create detailed and accurate life care plans.
Effective Communication Skills
Nurses learn from the beginning of their career how vital communication is. Because of their knowledge of illness and injury, nurses can explain medical terminology and processes in simple terms. Not only can they effectively communicate with patients, but they can use their communication skills and abilities to interact with attorneys, physicians, and even jurors. Nurses are educators. Their background prepares them to teach and ensure understanding of any future needs a patient may have.
Comprehensive Approach
Nurses understand that personalized care is not just about treating the medical condition. It's also about addressing the patient's quality of life. By adopting a holistic approach to long-term care planning, nurses consider the human aspects of patient care, focusing on the individual's comprehensive needs rather than just the symptoms of their condition. They are skilled in anticipating future care needs, ensuring that a life care plan addresses not only medical requirements but also the emotional and financial aspects of living with a chronic condition or recovery from an injury.
The Role of a Nurse Consultant in Developing Life Care Plans
Nurse consultants play a crucial role in the creation of life care plans by meticulously reviewing extensive medical records to extract vital patient information. This information is then summarized into succinct, yet comprehensive care plans. Nurse consultants work closely with medical, legal, and life care planning experts, ensuring that every report is both accurate and thorough.
Evaluating Medical Records
A significant part of a nurse consultant's role in life care planning involves working with medical records to create objective medical summaries used as the foundation for comprehensive care plans. This process requires a meticulous review of every document received, discerning the relevance to each specific case, including prior complaints. It is important for nurses to document these records faithfully, ensuring they provide a clear, unbiased foundation for further evaluation.
Ongoing Engagement in Case Management
Upon completing a medical summary, nurse consultants play a vital role in communicating with the life care planning experts to ensure that the medical records are ready for review. Their responsibilities vary depending on the case—from attending interviews and taking notes with plaintiffs to summarizing depositions in defense cases. This adaptability and attention to detail are crucial for maintaining the accuracy and integrity of the case proceedings.
Proactive Case Monitoring
Nurse consultants are continually engaged in case review, regularly conducting status checks to ensure that no new patient records have been overlooked and that all case components are up to date. This involves a proactive approach to incorporate new records into the existing summary, alerting the expert, and ensuring seamless integration into the ongoing review.
MacKenzie Life Care Planning Nurses
At MacKenzie Life Care Planning we are proud to have ten nurses on staff. Each comes with their own unique background and experience. This ensures that we are a team of expert professionals that have the necessary knowledge and expertise to address the needs of our clients.
MacKenzie Life Care Planners
There are three nurse life care planning experts on our team. Amy MacKenzie, Katie Heater, and Kerri Martin provide our clients with top quality life care planning and consulting services. In addition, their ability to effectively communicate with each other, our clients, and medical professionals ensures we work as a team to effectively create plans for future care.
MacKenzie Nurse Consultants
In addition to the expert life care planners, we have a team of seven nurse consultants. Jordan Copeland, Karen Peterson, Robin Fults, Nicole Harris, Kevyn Fritzsching, Claudia Lott, and Mariah Moore are dedicated to fully supporting our experts and the clients we serve. This talented and knowledgeable group assists us in improving our efforts to serve our clients.
Celebrating Nurses Dedication and Commitment
As we celebrate National Nurses Month, it's essential to acknowledge the significant roles nurses fill, not just in traditional healthcare settings but in specialized fields like life care planning. At MacKenzie Life Care Planning, our nurses are at the forefront of our operations, setting standards of excellence and demonstrating unwavering ethical commitment. We would like to take a moment to recognize their hard work and all other nurses in the healthcare industry, whose dedication and integrity continue to inspire and lead us forward.
For anyone in need of a life care plan or seeking answers to their questions, please call MacKenzie Life Care Planning at 903-595-6777 or visit us online at MacKenzieCLCP.com.
