What does Plan of Care refer to?

• A. A general hospital policy framework.
• B. A schedule of hospital-wide events.
• C. Expectations for the care of individual patients based on assessment of individual patient need.
• D. A standardized discharge checklist.

Answer: (C)

A Plan of Care is the individualized roadmap for a patient’s care, created after assessing their specific needs. It lays out the patient-focused goals, the planned interventions, who is responsible for each task, and the timing for those actions, and it stays updated as the patient’s condition or progress changes. This makes it a dynamic guide that coordinates care across different team members and services to achieve the desired outcomes for that person. It isn’t a general hospital policy framework, nor a schedule of hospital-wide events, nor a discharge checklist, which are broader or differently focused tools.