The primary site of care has shifted from the acute care setting to the community and to long term care. These dramatic changes have placed a special need for planning within the long term care industry. They have also created the need for nurse executives in long term care to become actively involved in the planning of the essential care factors needed to provide safe, cost efficient and quality care. Knowledge of marketing and business applications are essential tools in the new health care environment. In order to thrive in this new environment of health care reform, it is important that Nurses begin with the development of a strong planning process.
Flexibility is the key to immediate and future success.
There are many approaches to the process of planning. The most extensive is the Strategic Planning Process. Strategic Planning may be simply defined as a process which assists an organization in focusing on its capabilities as well as its weaknesses in order to determine future directions. This process defines the steps required to reach desired goals. Planning, like patient care planning, is a dynamic process.