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Nurse Education in Practice 12 (2012) e33

Contents lists available

Nurse Education in Practice

journal homepage: www.elsevier .com/nepr

Book review

A Practical Guide to Care Planning in Health and Social Care,M. Lloyd. McGraw-Hill (2010). ISBN – 10: 0–33-523732-0 (pb) 0-33-523731-2 (hb); ISBN –13: 978-0-33-523732-6 (pb) 978-0-33-523731-9 (hb)

This book is carefully crafted to provide an accessible guide forstudents studying health and social care. As the title suggests, theemphasis is on providing students with a clear, practical guide todevelop care plans, explaining both their purpose and their impor-tance. It clarifies the process of care planning and demonstratesthat a care plan done well is a vital contributor to the service thathealth and social care professionals give users.

A Practical Guide to Care Planning in Health and Social Care isclearly structured and concise. Each chapter is similarly organised,beginning by identifying aims in separate sub-sections. A succinctchapter summary is provided, concluding with some carefullyselected self-assessment questions. Throughout the book thereader is reminded to consider the practice that they observe andexperience in their work place. The book requires the student toimmerse him/herself in the care planning process and to experi-ence its practical application. The book’s approach is develop-mental, so the notion of setting SMART objectives is introduced inthe first chapter. However it is not until chapter four that theseobjectives are directly applied to care plan implementation.Notwithstanding this the clear, straightforward examples of careplans throughout the book will greatly assist students when theycome to develop plans themselves.

Student readers might have found it beneficial had thepurpose of a care plan been made more explicit in the book;

doi:10.1016/j.nepr.2012.01.010

emphasizing not only its legal status but also its value in assistingthe communication between care providers so that a seamlessand responsive service is provided to service users. It waspleasing to see some references to ethical dilemmas, but thesewere perhaps rather glossed over and feasibly students mighthave been offered further suggestions of how they might respondto these. It is possible that the occurrence of these dilemmas mayincrease in the UK in light of budgetary cutbacks and as thenumbers of commissioners and providers increases. The appen-dices should not be overlooked as they provide the studentwith practice sheets; audit checklists; and templates for usewhen planning care. In addition this provides a web addressfrom which they can download further copies of these. The Glos-sary is also most welcome. However there is one slight, thoughsignificant, omission and this concerns the entry under careplan. Here there is no mention of the legal status of the careplan, though this is referred to earlier in the book.

A Practical Guide to Care Planning in Health and Social Care shouldbe essential reading for all health and social care students. Mostimportantly it is such a valuable practical resource that if usedappropriately it should help improve the quality of care planningfor service users who rely on health and social care services tomeet their needs. It is a book that should be highly recommendedon students’ reading lists.

Susan HughesFaculty of Health and Social Care, The Open University, Walton Hall,

Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, United KingdomE-mail address: susan_m_hughes@btinternet.com