What should the nurse consider before implementation of all nursing interventions select all that apply?

The more you look into nursing careers, the more you realize that a day in the life of a nurse is rarely boring. You recently came across the term nursing intervention, which sounds like even more drama than the TV shows “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Intervention” combined!

Nurses can certainly experience their share of excitement during work, but nursing interventions aren’t quite as dramatic as they might sound. Unlike what you might be thinking, a nursing intervention isn’t just for patients struggling with addiction, and they definitely don’t always end in gut-wrenching emotional confrontations.

If it’s not a tension-filled scene in which a nurse confronts a patient, what is a nursing intervention? Join us as we learn more about how nursing interventions work in the real world, including everything aspiring nurses need to know about this facet of patient care.

What is a nursing intervention?

Medical dictionaries define nursing interventions simply as “any act by a nurse that implements the nursing care plan.” Far from the drama-filled situations you might have envisioned, nurses perform interventions on a daily basis. Many interventions are just part of the routine, such as turning patients to prevent bedsores, helping a patient control their pain level and assisting patients to prevent falls.

Nursing interventions are tracked using a standard classification system known as Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC). Nurses use this classification system for communicating about interventions with other medical professionals and documenting their actions.

Nurses operate alongside physicians and other specialists on a care team who all work together to determine the interventions a particular patient needs. Nursing interventions fall into three main categories that determine which medical professionals are responsible for carrying out a patient intervention:

• Independent: A nurse can carry out these interventions on their own, without input or assistance from others. An example of an independent intervention includes educating a patient on the importance of their medication so they can administer it as prescribed.
• Dependent: These nursing interventions require an order from a physician, such as ordering the prescription for a new medication.
• Interdependent: Nurses work alongside multiple members of a care team to perform these interventions. An example of an interdependent intervention could include a patient recovering from knee surgery who is prescribed pain medication by a physician, administered medication by a nurse and given physical therapy exercises by a specialist.

Assessment vs. nursing intervention

Nursing interventions and assessments are two separate steps in a larger nursing process. Nurses follow this step-by-step procedure to provide the best care possible for their patients.

Assessment is the first step in the nursing process, according to the American Nurses Association (ANA). Nurses need to understand a patient’s medical history, the medications they may be taking and current health condition before they can provide proper care. Assessment is when nurses gather this information and use active listening skills to talk with patients and learn more about their concerns, mental health and any changes in their condition.

Nurses use the information they gathered during assessment to inform a diagnosis and create an outcome plan for their patient. Once all this planning has been completed, interventions can take place. These are the actions nurses take to implement a patient’s care plan and help them then achieve their health goals.

Types of nursing interventions

Just as there are different patients with different medical needs and health conditions, there are different types of nursing interventions to meet their needs. Luckily, nurses aren’t on their own for choosing the best intervention for their patients—or even for remembering what all the options are!

The Nursing Interventions Classification system defines more than 550 nursing intervention labels that nurses can use to provide the proper care to their patients. These interventions are then divided into seven domains, or types of interventions:

• Behavioral nursing interventions include actions that help a patient change their behavior, such as offering support to quit smoking.
• Community nursing interventions are those that focus on public health initiatives, such as implementing a diabetes education program.
• Family nursing interventions are those that impact a patient’s entire family, such as offering a nursing woman support in breastfeeding her new baby, or reducing the threat of illness spreading when one family member is diagnosed with a communicable disease.
• Health system nursing interventions are actions nurses take as part of a healthcare team to provide a safe medical facility for all patients, such as following procedures to reduce the risk of infection for patients during hospital stays.
• Physiological nursing interventions are related to a patient’s physical health. These nursing interventions come in two categories: basic and complex. An example of a physiological nursing intervention would be providing IV fluids to a patient who is dehydrated.
• Safety nursing interventions include actions that maintain a patient’s safety and prevent injuries. These include educating a patient about how to call for assistance if they are not able to safely move around on their own.

As you can see, nursing interventions go beyond simply “fixing” a patient. Nursing interventions are a vital service for patients as nurses care for them in every aspect, including physically, mentally, emotionally and socially. The men and women who perform nursing interventions every day can make a lasting, positive impact on their patients.

Providing high-quality care for patients

A career in nursing gives you plenty of opportunities to step in and improve the lives of others. If this sounds like it could be a good fit for you, you’ll want to check out our article “What Makes a Good Nurse? Experts Reveal What It Takes.”

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To provide quality patient care over a period of time, nurses need a roadmap that guides their actions and quantifies desired outcomes. As a registered nurse, you will be responsible for creating a plan of care based on each patient’s needs and health goals. A nursing care plan is a formal process that includes six components: assessment, diagnosis, expected outcomes, interventions, rationale, and evaluation.1 Documenting these steps ensures effective communication between doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals over multiple shifts. 

Interventions are a key element of the nursing care plan. This guide explores nursing interventions and their role in patient care.  

What Are Nursing Interventions?

Nursing interventions are actions a nurse takes to implement their patient care plan, including any treatments, procedures, or teaching moments intended to improve the patient’s comfort and health.2

These actions can be as simple as adjusting the patient’s bed and resting position—or as involved as psychotherapy and crisis counseling. While some nursing interventions are doctors’ orders, nurse practitioners can also develop orders using principles of evidence-based practice. Common nursing interventions include:

• Bedside care and assistance
• Administration of medication
• Postpartum support
• Feeding assistance
• Monitoring of vitals and recovery progress

Nursing Intervention Categories3

Nursing interventions are grouped into three categories according to the role of the healthcare professional involved in the patient’s care:

• Independent: A nurse can perform independent interventions on their own without assistance from other medical personnel; e.g., routine nursing tasks such as checking vital signs. 
• Dependent: Some actions require instructions or input from a doctor, such as prescribing new medication. A nurse cannot initiate dependent interventions alone.
• Interdependent: Collaborative, or interdependent, interventions involve team members across disciplines. In certain cases, such as post-surgery, the patient’s recovery plan may require a prescription medication from a doctor, feeding assistance from a nurse, and treatment by a physical therapist or occupational therapist.

The Role of Assessments

The nursing assessment is the first step in the nursing care plan. During the assessment process, both physicians and nurses might ask questions and perform tests to gain information about a patient’s health and state of being. Professionals gather information from the patient’s:

• Vital signs
• Physical complaints or concerns
• External body conditions 
• Medical history 
• Current neurological functioning

After gathering all essential information during the assessment process, the nurse can use clinical judgment to formulate a nursing diagnosis list. Based on the assessment and diagnosis, the nurse can develop a care plan that outlines which interventions to include.4 For example, the nursing diagnosis list may conclude the patient has a lack of appetite due to post-surgery pain. From this medical diagnosis, the nurse can set goals to resolve the patient’s pain through actions such as administering pain-relief medication and assessing the patient’s pain levels every few hours.

Nursing Interventions Classification System

There are several types of nursing interventions aimed at meeting the variety of medical needs and conditions of patients. The Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC) system categorizes a wide range of possible treatments that a nurse may perform. The book Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC), 7th ed. evaluates this system, defining over 550 nursing interventions from which a nurse can choose.      

NIC categorizes nursing interventions across seven domains:5

1. Family Nursing Interventions6

Family nursing interventions are those that address not only the patient, but other family members as well. They could entail education of family members about caring for the patient; or, in the case of new mothers, interventions could consist of instruction and assistance with breastfeeding and other forms of infant care. 

2. Behavioral Nursing Interventions

This category includes actions a nurse takes to help their patient change an unhealthful behavior or habit; for example, suggesting physical and emotional coping methods for a patient who wants to quit smoking.

 3. Physiological Nursing Interventions (Basic)

Basic interventions concerning the patient’s physical health include hands-on procedures ranging from feeding to hygiene assistance.

4. Physiological Nursing Interventions (Complex)

Some physiological nursing interventions are more complex, such as the insertion of an IV line to administer fluids to a dehydrated patient. 

5. Community Nursing Interventions

Some hospitals and clinics focus on public health initiatives to educate patients, their families, and local communities. These community nursing interventions are organized efforts that encourage general health and wellness. For example, many clinics and pharmacies are currently administering the COVID-19 vaccine, or a hospital may offer a free education program about diabetes or organize a fun run to raise money for breast cancer research. 

6. Safety Nursing Interventions

After undergoing surgery, patients need education on safety procedures and protocols to prevent injury. These safety interventions may include instructions for using a walker or a cane or how to take a shower safely.   

7. Health System Interventions

During their shift, nurses take the initiative to ensure that the patient’s environment is safe and comfortable, such as repositioning them to avoid pressure ulcers in bed. These routine procedures classify as health system interventions.

While a nurse may not use every type of intervention every day, each is an essential form of care needed to maintain the patient’s physical, emotional, and mental well-being and reach the desired outcome.

Key Nursing Interventions to Perform Each Shift7

On-duty nurses routinely perform certain nursing interventions as part of their daily tasks. In addition to educating the patient on their care and recovery progression, nurses will typically perform the following each shift:

• Pain control: Ensuring that the patient is comfortable and monitoring their intake of pain medication, if applicable 
• Position changes: Promoting a change of the patient’s resting position to prevent bedsores
• Active listening: Listening to the patient and repeating back information so they feel heard 
• Cluster care: Informing other nurses and care team members of the patient’s needs each shift to help consolidate trips and avoid frequent traffic in the patient’s room
• Fall prevention: Educating the patient, generally someone who is elderly or recovering post-surgery, of instructions to avoid the risk of fall and injury
• Adequate oral intake: Promoting fluid consumption by mouth for patients currently receiving fluid through IVs as a means to decrease and discontinue IV use    

Creating a safe environment, promoting good health practices, and listening closely to patients are daily nursing interventions you will perform and perfect throughout your career as a nurse. If you aspire to a nurse leadership role, such as a nurse practitioner, nurse manager or executive, you may eventually oversee and strategize care plans for hundreds of patients. With an advanced career in nursing, you can lead initiatives to improve the quality of care and make lasting, positive impacts on patient lives.

The University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (USAHS) offers a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) program, a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program, and Post-Graduate Nursing Certificates designed for working nurses. Our degrees are offered online, with optional on-campus immersions* (currently postponed due to COVID-19). Role specialties include Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP), Nurse Educator,** and Nurse Executive. The MSN has several options to accelerate your time to degree completion, allowing you to complete coursework when you want and earn your advanced nursing degree while keeping your work and life in balance.

*The FNP role specialty includes two required hands-on clinical intensives as part of the curriculum.
**The Nurse Educator role specialty is not available for the DNP program.