Developing and implementing an action plan.
Once patients have decided on a particular intervention
or behavioral change, they need to develop a detailed,
realistic action plan. For example, an action
plan for practicing pelvic floor muscle exercises might
require patients to decide when and where they will
perform the exercises, for how long, and in which positions.
Nurses should advise their patients to set a
feasible timeline for action plan assessment. This may
be two to three weeks after a dietary intervention or
several months after starting a pelvic floor muscle exercise
regimen. If the intervention is unsuccessful, it
may be because the self-management behavior was
not implemented effectively (for example, the patient
may not have performed the exercises correctly or
consistently). Evaluation would include assessing
whether the patient was able to realistically carry out
the action plan and whether any unanticipated events
interfered with completion. Action plans may need
to be revised to account for unexpected changes in
health, work, or family matters, or to include alternative
self-management techniques. So patients should
be encouraged to review their action plan with the
nurse periodically for necessary changes.