This article outlines the steps to create and customise care plan templates in NurseBuddy, ensuring all necessary categories and information are included for effective client care.
This version of the care plan is available for customers in Standard and Pro pricing plans.
Creating and Customising Care Plan Templates
Accessing Care Plan Settings
Open the NurseBuddy application.
Navigate to Settings.
Click on Clients.
Select Care Plan.
Viewing Existing Care Plan Templates
Locate your existing care plan template.
Click to open the template and view existing categories (e.g., Nutrition).
If no template exists, start by creating the categories you want to include.
Using the Categories Tab
Categories are the different parts of your care plan. For example you can have a category called About Me at the beginning of your care plan template, followed by the different type of factors you want to include in the care plan like Nutrition, Medication, etc.
Navigate to the Categories tab.
To manage categories:
Existing categories: Click the category name to view, duplicate, or delete.
Add a new category: Click + Add New Category
Use a numbering system (e.g., 1, 2, 3 or A, B, C) for organisation.
Nursebuddy sort out all lists by alphabetical order. Use a type of numbering or list system like 0.0, 01., 02. 03,...10, 11, etc or A., B., C... etc before the name of your categories to organise them in the order of your preference otherwise they will be re-ordered alphabetically.
When creating categories you have different input options:
Note box: For free text entries.
Body Map: Ideal for skincare categories.
Calendar: For date selection.
Checkbox: For multiple selections.
Drop-down: For fixed multiple-choice entries.
Radio button: For single option selection
File upload: Attach images or diagrams.
Tasks: Add default tasks related to the category.
Record value: Set a range with minimum and maximum values.
After setting up your categories, click Save to update the template.
For body maps, for example, you can point in the template what are the areas of the body where a service user is more prone to have skin issues:
Add all the categories you may need when building your template so they are available when you add the care plan to your client's profile. You can always delete categories that are not relevant to an specific client in the client's profile but it is important to have all the categories available in your template. You can always edit your template and add more categories, if needed.
Example: Creating an Initial Assessment Category
Guide to create and add an Initial Assessment category to a Care Plan Template for Domiciliary Care.
Step 1: Naming the Category
Name the category Initial Assessment Dom Care.
Use a prefix like 0.00 to indicate its primary position in the care plan.
Step 2: Adding Questions/Sections
Add up to 10 relevant questions or titles to create the different sections using appropriate input types (e.g., notes, checkboxes).
Example of Sections:
General well-being (note box).
Risk of abuse/neglect (note box).
Day-to-day basic needs (checkbox).
Current or past profession (note box).
You can enter more information using sub-questions. For example for the Section number 4 we added two more questions:
4.1 Type of income (checkbox).
4.2 Is this income enough to cover your bills?
Continue with:
5. Social life (note box).
6. Family relationship (note box).
7. Accommodation (note box).
8. Hobbies and spirituality (note box).
9. Medical diagnosis (note box)
10. Prescribed medications (note box).
Step 3: Adding Category to Template
Go to the Template tab.
Open the relevant template.
Click Add Category and select Initial Assessment Dom Care.
Step 4: Pre-Filling Information
Add general guidance or instructions (not client-specific data).
Step 5: Saving the Template
After completing the setup, click Save to finalise the category within the care plan template.
Notes
Do not include personal client data in templates.
Ensure all questions are relevant and clearly worded.
Efficiency Tips
Use copy-paste for repetitive instructions.
Review templates with a colleague before finalisation.
Adding a Care Plan to a Client's profile
Once you have your template ready, you can now add a care plan in your client's profile.
Step 1. Open your client's profile and the care plan tab
If there was already a care plan in the client's profile the information will still be there.
Step 2. If you need to make a change and the care plan is active, click Review now
Step 3. Add intent notes and Comments to keep traceability in place and also to inform carers about changes.
Intent notes: reasons why you are reviewing the care plan. Only visible for office staff.
Comments: add a brief description of the recent changes and in which categories the changes were done so carers can check them. These comments are visible in the carer's mobile app.
Step 4. In the plan details you can click each category to review it, once you have made the changes required click save. If you need to delete the category, tick the box Mark category for deletion. When you click Save the category review status will be marked a Done.
Step 5. To add categories to the client's care plan from your template, click in the Add category button and select the category or categories that are relevant for the client
Step 6. When finish, add a next review date and Confirm review. There is a progress bar to show you how much of the care plan you have reviewed. But it is not mandatory to review the 100% of the care plan in order to confirm as reviewed.
Carers will be able to see if there is a new update in the client's care plan and they will be able to check in the comments what were the changes made
If you would like to get consent for the care plan from the service user, or you want both the carer and client to confirm they have read the care plan, our advice would be creating a custom task where you can add a digital signature.
Previous versions of the care plan
To see any previous version of the care plan, select from the drop down list the version you want to review
Print or save as a PDF
If you need to print or save a copy of the care plan in PDF to share, click in Actions menu at the top and in the print out settings select either to print or to save as PDF
Remember to add the logo of your company in the Settings>My Organisation> Company Info so it is visible in your care plans
Video Tutorials
Video Tutorial: Care Plan Template Settings
Video Tutorial: How to create a category: Initial Assessment
Video Tutorial: How to add a care plan for your clients
Video Tutorial for customers with no previous version of the care plan