| Course | NU245 Mental Health Nursing |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 9 |
| Paper type | Nursing care plan |
| Length | About 870 words, 6 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BSN (prelicensure) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for NU245 Unit 9
Picking His Daughter Up on Fridays: A Care Plan for a Composite Thirty-Six-Year-Old Started on Buprenorphine After an Opioid Overdose, With Every Measurable Goal Built From a Sentence He Said Himself
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
NU245: Mental Health Nursing
Unit 9 Care Plan
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The patient is composite; medication choices and doses belong to the prescriber and the patient, values are bracketed where illustrative, and the plan supports rather than replaces addiction treatment.
Assessment Summary
[Mr. C.], composite, 36, an electrician, used prescription opioids after a back injury [six] years ago and later heroin and fentanyl. Brought to the emergency department after a friend gave him naloxone. Admitted; withdrawal managed and buprenorphine started on day [one] as ordered. Separated, sees his eight-year-old daughter on weekends. His job is at risk after missed days. On day four, asked what he wants most, he said: "I want to be the one who picks her up on Fridays. Not her mom calling to say I didn't show."
Problem 1: Ineffective Coping
His words: "I use when I'm alone after work and my back hurts." Goal: by day [5], names three situations that came before using and chooses a different response for each. Interventions and rationale: guide him to list his own triggers, which he is more likely to act on than a list given to him; explore what worked before; help him plan for evenings alone, the riskiest time he named. Evaluation: by day 5 he named evenings alone, back pain after work and payday; chose calling his sister, a heating pad and stretches, and having his paycheck deposited directly.
Problem 2: Readiness for Enhanced Health Self-Management
His words: "I don't want to just stop, I've done that. It never sticks." Goal: attends two mutual-support or counseling sessions on the unit before discharge and chooses an outpatient program. Interventions and rationale: use motivational interviewing, asking open questions and reflecting his reasons for change rather than arguing, because people are more likely to change for reasons they say themselves (Miller & Rollnick, 2013); record change talk in his words. Change talk recorded: "I want to be there for her." "I'm tired of hiding it." "Maybe the medicine is the part I skipped before." Evaluation: attended two groups; chose an outpatient program near his job.
He did not need to be told why to change; he needed someone to write down the reasons he gave and read them back to him.
Problem 3: Risk for Overdose After Discharge
His words: "I know I almost didn't come back." Goal: before discharge, states the plan for continuing buprenorphine, carries naloxone and teaches his sister to use it. Interventions and rationale: after a nonfatal overdose, treatment with buprenorphine or methadone was linked in a large cohort to fewer deaths from any cause and from opioids over the following year (Larochelle et al., 2018), so continuing medication is a safety measure, not only a treatment preference; explain that tolerance falls quickly after a break, raising overdose risk if he uses again; give naloxone and teach him and his sister. Evaluation: appointment booked with the outpatient prescriber [two] days after discharge, naloxone kit given, sister taught by phone and in person.
Stigma on the Unit
People with opioid use disorder often meet judgment from health workers, which can make them leave care early. The plan includes a nursing commitment to person-first language, describing him as a man with opioid use disorder rather than an addict, and to treating his withdrawal symptoms and pain seriously. When a staff member called him "drug-seeking" for asking about his back pain, the nurse spoke with the staff member privately and charted his pain score and the response to treatment, as for any patient.
Medication Options, His Decision
The team explained buprenorphine, methadone and extended-release naltrexone, with their differences in daily visits, side effects and how each would fit his work. He chose to continue buprenorphine because he can take it at home and keep working. The plan records his reasons in his words, so the outpatient team understands the choice (Halter, 2022).
Pain After the Overdose
His back injury did not go away when he started treatment, and untreated pain was one of the triggers he named. The plan includes a pain assessment each shift, non-opioid options as ordered, heat and stretching, and a referral to physical therapy after discharge. Buprenorphine itself provides some pain relief, which the prescriber explained to him; knowing that his pain would be taken seriously made him more willing to stay on treatment. Pain that is dismissed in people with opioid use disorder is a common reason for returning to illicit use, so it is treated here as part of the overdose prevention plan.
Measurable Without Sounding Foreign
Each goal names a number and a day, but the words are his: "picks her up on Fridays" became the discharge goal of arranging his work schedule to leave at 2:30 p.m. on Fridays, agreed with his supervisor by phone on day [6].
Evaluation With His Comment Attached
At discharge he said, "I've got a plan this time, not just a promise." All three problems' goals were met or set up for outpatient follow-up.
References
Halter, M. J. (2022). Varcarolis' foundations of psychiatric-mental health nursing: A clinical approach (9th ed.). Elsevier.
Larochelle, M. R., Bernson, D., Land, T., Stopka, T. J., Wang, N., Xuan, Z., Bagley, S. M., Liebschutz, J. M., & Walley, A. Y. (2018). Medication for opioid use disorder after nonfatal opioid overdose and association with mortality: A cohort study. Annals of Internal Medicine, 169(3), 137-145. https://doi.org/10.7326/M17-3107
Miller, W. R., & Rollnick, S. (2013). Motivational interviewing: Helping people change (3rd ed.). Guilford Press.
The Purdue Global NU245 Unit 9 instructions
Unit 9 often centers on someone with a substance use disorder, written up in the columned format with assessment, nursing problems, measurable goals, interventions with rationale and evaluation. Prompts usually want goals that reflect the patient's priorities, use of motivational interviewing, attention to relapse and overdose risk and a discharge plan. Instructors look for person-first language, goals written in measurable terms without losing the patient's voice, evidence for medication treatment and respect for the patient's choices. Many sections ask students to record change talk. Five pages is a typical length, with outcome evidence on medication treatment and Miller and Rollnick on motivational interviewing among the sources.
How the NU 245 Unit 9 example is put together
An assessment summary covers his injury, use history, overdose, family and work, ending with his sentence about Fridays. Each of three problems begins with his words, then a dated goal, interventions with reasons and an evaluation. The second problem records change talk and cites motivational interviewing, with a highlighted line about reading his reasons back. The third ties continued medication to a cohort study on deaths after overdose, with a margin note, and covers naloxone teaching for his sister. Sections address stigma on the unit, medication options as his decision and his back pain. The plan closes by turning Fridays into a schedule goal and recording his own comment.
NU245 Unit 9 rubric: what earns full points
Substance use care plan rubrics in NU 245 tend to award credit for assessment, problem selection, goal quality, evidence-based interventions, patient-centeredness, evaluation and APA writing. Assessment credit depends on use history, risks and strengths. Problem credit rewards including overdose risk after discharge. Goal credit goes to measurable outcomes with dates that keep the patient's words. Intervention credit is earned by citing evidence for medication and by using motivational interviewing appropriately. Patient-centered credit requires his own decisions about treatment. Evaluation credit rewards results against each goal. A plan that treats stigma and pain as part of relapse prevention demonstrates the broad thinking the course aims to build. Recording change talk in his exact words also earns credit, because it shows the method was used, not just named.
NU245 Unit 9 help: mistakes that cost points
Substance use care plans often lose credit by using stigmatizing words such as addict or drug-seeking, or by writing goals like "patient will remain abstinent" that the patient never chose. Another frequent gap is ignoring overdose risk after discharge, when tolerance has fallen. Some students lecture about consequences instead of eliciting the patient's own reasons. Others treat medication as optional detox rather than ongoing treatment. Use person-first language, build goals from the patient's words, record change talk, explain medication options and let the patient decide, plan for naloxone and follow-up within days and take pain seriously. Write the evaluation with the patient's comment attached, so the next team hears his view of what worked.
Get an NU245 Unit 9 example written to your instructions
Unit 9 care plans cover many presentations: depression, schizophrenia, an eating disorder, substance use. Describe the one your case involves without identifiers, attach the plan form you were given with its rubric, and note whether NANDA-I labels are expected. The composite plan will carry goals phrased so the person could claim them. The first custom sample is free and reaches you in 24-48h. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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NU245 Unit 9 questions, answered
Where can I find a free NU245 Unit 9 sample paper?
This page carries the full NU245 Unit 9 care plan for a composite electrician starting buprenorphine after an overdose, with goals in his words, change talk, overdose prevention and three sources. A plan for your own patient can follow this structure if you share the details.
What is change talk?
Statements in which a person expresses their own reasons, desire or commitment to change, such as I want to be there for her, recorded in their words.
Why continue buprenorphine after an overdose in NU245 Unit 9?
In a large cohort, people who received buprenorphine or methadone after a nonfatal overdose had lower all-cause and opioid-related death rates over the following year.
Why is overdose risk higher after a hospital stay?
Tolerance falls quickly during a break from use, so a person who uses again at the previous amount is at higher risk of overdose.
How should goals be written for a patient with substance use disorder?
With a number and a date, but built from the patient's own sentences, so the goals reflect what they want rather than a standard list.