Beyond the nursing care plan: an introduction to care bundles

ABSTRACT

Care bundles are widely used in human-centred nursing, either alongside or as an alternative to nursing care plans. They are key tools in providing high quality, standardised care, which is based on comprehensive and robust evidence. They may also have additional benefits related to team working, education, audit and clinical governance.

While the benefits of care bundles in human-centred nursing are widely documented, this does not necessarily mean that they will be useful or applicable to veterinary nursing. This article aims to provide a review of care bundles so that veterinary nurses can begin to think critically, and establish whether or not the use of care bundles may improve clinical practice for their patients.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Helen Ballantyne

After graduating with a degree in pharmacology in 2002, Helen qualified as an RVN in 2005. Combining her passions for veterinary nursing and travel, she began a six-year stint as a locum nurse, working nationally and internationally in a variety of settings.

In September 2013 she qualified as a human-centred nurse and works at Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, which is the largest specialist cardiothoracic hospital in the UK. After two years working in intensive care, she has recently moved to the transplant continuing-care team where she helps to care for patients post-transplant. She is also part of the organ retrieval team, which is on call to attend hospitals across the UK to facilitate the collection of organs from deceased donors.

Helen is really enjoying her change in career, although she retains a keen interest in veterinary nursing and, when she sets off for work, her family and friends take delight in asking ‘Is it humans or animals today?’