Care Dependency Scale

As you already know, a nursing care patient is someone whose self-care abilities have decreased and therefore are dependent to a certain degree. In order to over come this dependency, the nurse offers support to the patient so that they regain their independance in performing their own care.

The care dependency scale (CDS) is the needs assesment tool that can be used in the first stage of the nursing process as a case-finding and need assessment tool. It determines the degree of dependency the patient has, and therefore implies the degree of care needed to help the person regain their own care. A new study has been published that investigates the diagnostic accuracy of the CDS. It is worth looking at to see how beneficial a tool it can be in the day to day nursing of those that have lost some of their self-care abilities.

Dijkstra A, Tiesinga LJ, Plantinga L, Veltman G, Dassen TW. Diagnostic accuracy of the Care Dependency Scale. J Adv Nurs. 2005 May;50(4):410-6.