| Course | NU 627 Geriatric Healthcare |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 5 |
| Paper type | Caregiver support plan |
| Length | About 1,010 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Herzing University |
| Program | MSN Family Nurse Practitioner |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for NU 627 Unit 5
Caregiver Support Plan for a 76-Year-Old Wife Caring for Her Husband With Advanced Parkinson Disease
Student Name
Department of Nursing, Herzing University
NU 627: Geriatric Healthcare
Instructor Name
February 20, 2026
Caregiver Support Plan for a 76-Year-Old Wife Caring for Her Husband With Advanced Parkinson Disease
Who Provides Care
Mrs. P., a composite 76-year-old retired bank teller, has cared for her husband, 79, for six years since his Parkinson disease diagnosis, and for the past 18 months he has needed help with most daily activities. They live in a two-story house; he now sleeps downstairs. Their son lives three states away and calls weekly; their daughter lives 40 minutes away, works full time, and visits on Sundays. Mrs. P. came to the clinic for her own blood pressure follow-up and, when asked how things were at home, began to cry. This plan was built from that visit and a second visit two weeks later.
What She Actually Does, Across a Week
Daytime: helps him dress, shower three times a week, and use the toilet; prepares all meals and cuts his food; gives five medication doses a day on a strict schedule, because his symptoms worsen within an hour of a late dose; drives him to neurology, physical therapy, and dental appointments; manages bills and insurance. Nighttime: he wakes two to four times to urinate and needs help standing and walking to the bathroom; twice in the past month he fell at night and she could not lift him and called the fire department. She estimates she sleeps four to five hours in broken stretches. Across a week she has no time alone except church on Sunday mornings when her daughter sits with him.
The night is where her exhaustion accumulates, and it rarely appears when caregivers describe daytime tasks. Her account of the falls, and of lying awake listening for him, is the most important information in this plan.
Burden, Measured
The 12-item short version of the Zarit Burden Interview was used, because it has been validated as a shorter screening form of the full instrument and takes about five minutes (Bedard et al., 2001). Her score was 26 of 48, which falls in the range generally interpreted as high burden. The items she rated highest were feeling that she does not have enough time for herself, feeling stressed between caring for him and her other responsibilities, and feeling that her health has suffered. Practically, the score means she is at the point where caregivers often begin to decline in their own health and where the risk of an unplanned crisis, either his or hers, is high.
Her Own Health
Hypertension, now above goal at 152/88, which she attributes to not taking her own medication regularly. Osteoarthritis of both knees, worse since she began helping him stand at night. She has lost 8 pounds. On the Patient Health Questionnaire 2 she screened positive for depressed mood, and the follow-up questionnaire suggested moderate depressive symptoms; she denies thoughts of self-harm. She has missed her own mammogram and eye appointment. The association between caregiver strain and health is not only a matter of distress: in a prospective cohort study, older spousal caregivers who reported strain had a higher mortality risk than noncaregivers over four years (Schulz & Beach, 1999).
Circumstances
She is retired; income is two pensions and Social Security, adequate but with little margin. His medications cost about $180 a month after insurance. She has no help paid for privately and did not know what might be available. Their long-term care insurance, bought in 1998, has a home care benefit she has never claimed because she assumed it only covered nursing homes.
Support Arranged
Specific services, each with eligibility, cost, and timing. First, the local Area Agency on Aging, which administers the National Family Caregiver Support Program: she is eligible as a caregiver of an adult 60 or older, the service is free, and an intake call has been scheduled for next Tuesday; it can fund a limited amount of in-home respite and connect her with a caregiver coaching program. Second, their long-term care insurance: the policy was reviewed with her at the second visit, and it covers home health aide hours after a 90-day elimination period; she has called the insurer and a care assessment is booked for the following week. Third, a Parkinson disease caregiver support group run by a regional hospital, meeting monthly in person and by video; free. Fourth, a home safety evaluation and a referral for physical therapy for her husband's transfers, which may reduce the lifting she does at night. Fifth, a bedside commode for nights, covered by his Medicare Part B with a prescription, to shorten the walk to the bathroom.
Respite and Her Own Care
Respite: an adult day program with Parkinson experience two days a week was identified, costing $85 a day, partly offset by the long-term care benefit once it begins. Until then, her daughter agreed to one additional evening a week. Her own care: her blood pressure medication was changed to once-daily dosing, taken with his morning medications so she does not forget; her mammogram was rebooked for a day her daughter can cover; and she was referred for treatment of depressive symptoms, with her preference for counseling rather than medication first recorded. Caregivers' own health care is often deferred, and national reviews of family caregiving recommend that clinicians assess and support caregivers directly rather than treat them only as part of the patient's resources (Schulz & Eden, 2016).
If She Can No Longer Provide Care
The most predictable event in this situation is that Mrs. P. becomes unable to continue, through illness, injury, or exhaustion. That possibility was discussed with her and, with her permission, with her daughter. The plan: her daughter is listed as the emergency contact for his care; his neurologist's office and the clinic have the medication schedule; the family has begun touring two assisted living communities with memory and mobility care to understand options before a crisis forces a choice; and his advance directive, which names her as his agent, will be updated to name their daughter as the alternate. Follow-up with Mrs. P. is in four weeks, with the Zarit short form repeated at three months.
References
Bedard, M., Molloy, D. W., Squire, L., Dubois, S., Lever, J. A., & O'Donnell, M. (2001). The Zarit Burden Interview: A new short version and screening version. The Gerontologist, 41(5), 652-657. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/41.5.652
Schulz, R., & Beach, S. R. (1999). Caregiving as a risk factor for mortality: The Caregiver Health Effects Study. JAMA, 282(23), 2215-2219. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.282.23.2215
Schulz, R., & Eden, J. (Eds.). (2016). Families caring for an aging America. The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/23606
What the NU 627 Unit 5 instructions ask for
Unit 5 centers on the family caregiver of an older adult: you assess that person and write a plan to support them. Expect to describe the care being provided in concrete terms, then measure burden with a validated tool and report the score. The caregiver's own health, finances, help and social situation should be assessed. The support section should name specific services with eligibility, cost and how to access them, rather than general advice to seek help. Respite and the caregiver's own medical care are commonly required. Many sections also ask for a contingency plan if the caregiver can no longer continue. Cite caregiving research and the burden instrument in APA 7. Use an invented household, and follow the length your section sets. Keep the caregiver's voice in the plan where possible.
How this NU 627 Unit 5 example is built
The plan opens by naming the caregiver, her relationship and how long she has provided care. A week of tasks is then described in detail, day and night, which makes the burden visible before any score appears. The burden section reports the 12-item Zarit score and explains why the short form was chosen. Her own health section notes uncontrolled blood pressure linked to missed doses and knee pain worsened by lifting. The circumstances section covers income, the cost of his medications and the absence of paid help. Support arranged lists services one by one with eligibility, cost and timing, including the family caregiver program through the Area Agency on Aging. Respite is set at two days a week in an adult day program, and the contingency section plans for her illness or exhaustion.
Reading the NU 627 Unit 5 rubric
A Herzing rubric for a caregiver plan usually scores assessment of caregiving tasks, measurement of burden, the caregiver's health, the support plan, contingency planning and writing. Task assessment points go to a concrete account of what the caregiver does. Burden points require a validated instrument with its score, interpretation and source. Health points depend on attention to the caregiver's own conditions and care. The support plan is usually the heaviest line, rewarding named services with eligibility, cost and timing rather than generic referrals. Contingency points are credited when the plan anticipates the caregiver stopping. Writing points cover organization, respectful language and APA citations for caregiving research, including evidence on caregiver health risks.
NU 627 Unit 5 help: mistakes that cost points
Caregiver plans often lose points by focusing on the care recipient and treating the caregiver as background. Students also report a burden score without interpreting it or naming the instrument version. Support sections that say "refer to community resources" without naming services, costs or eligibility earn partial credit. The caregiver's own health problems are commonly overlooked. Respite is frequently suggested without a realistic source or cost. Another gap is missing the contingency plan, which many rubrics expect. Some papers use language that implies the caregiver is failing; describing strain and its causes is more accurate. Finally, check eligibility for programs carefully, since a recommended service the family cannot use weakens the plan.
Get a NU 627 Unit 5 example written to your instructions
Send the Unit 5 instructions and the rubric from your NU 627 classroom, plus the patient and caregiver situation your plan addresses. We write a custom example that measures burden, names real services and writes the contingency, returned in 24 to 48 hours. The first custom sample is free.
More NU 627 papers and FNP samples
- NU 627 Unit 1: Comprehensive geriatric assessment
- NU 627 Unit 2: Functional and cognitive screening review
- NU 627 Unit 3: Deprescribing review
- NU 627 Unit 4: Falls risk and prevention plan
- NU 627 Unit 6: Goals of care conversation record
- NU 627 Unit 7: Transitions of care plan
- NU 627 Unit 8: Capacity and advance care planning document
- NU 621 Unit 5: Concept map
- NU 636 Unit 5: Drug therapy paper
- NU 623 Unit 5: Self-management support plan
- NU 631 Unit 5: Abnormal screening result algorithm
NU 627 Unit 5 questions, answered
Why assess the caregiver separately?
Because they have their own risk and their own outcomes. Caregiver strain predicts their own illness, their own mortality and the point at which the patient enters institutional care, so they are a clinical concern rather than a support resource. A plan that assigns them tasks without assessing their capacity is planning on an assumption nobody tested.
What should the support section actually contain?
Named services with the details somebody would need to use them. Which respite program, whether this family is eligible, what it costs, how long the wait is and how the referral is made. Listing respite care as an option gives a family nothing to act on, and what separates the two versions is whether a family could act on either of them.
Is it appropriate to plan for the caregiver stopping?
It is one of the most useful things the plan can do. Caregivers become ill, take up work, or reach a point where they cannot continue, and families forced to arrange alternatives in a crisis do worse than those who discussed it in advance. Raise it gently, record what was said, and name what would happen.
Where can I find a free NU 627 Unit 5 sample paper?
The complete NU 627 Unit 5 caregiver plan is free to read here, including the week of tasks, the Zarit score, her own health, the services arranged and the contingency plan. If your case involves a different caregiver, ask for a custom plan; it is free and generally ready within 48 hours.
Why assess the caregiver in a geriatric care plan?
The older adult's care depends on the caregiver's health and stamina. Caregiving strain is linked to depression and poorer health, so measuring burden and supporting the caregiver protects both people.