Pneumonia Nursing Diagnosis & Care Plan

Find out how to write pneumonia nursing care plans, including their components, and examples.

What is Pneumonia?

Pneumonia is a lung infection that can be caused by bacteria, viruses, or fungi, which causes lung inflammation, as well as fluid or pus in the lungs.¹

Types of Pneumonia

While there are numerous types of pneumonia, the two most common are community and hospital-acquired pneumonia.

1. Community-Acquired Pneumonia (CAP)

CAP is a lung infection that an individual contracts in the community. 

Pathogens causing CAP include:

• Haemophilus influenzae
• Mycoplasma pneumoniae
• Chlamydia pneumoniae
• Legionella
• Gram-negative bacilli
• Staphylococcus aureus²

2. Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia (HAP)

HAP is when the patient develops pneumonia, which is directly associated with healthcare risk factors, including prior hospitalization, dialysis, residing in a nursing home, or being immunocompromised. This is considered a nosocomial infection. 

Pathogens causing HAP include:

• Staphylococcus aureus 
• Streptococcus pneumoniae 
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa 
• Methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus 
• Haemophilus influenzae ³

Other types of pneumonia include ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) and aspiration pneumonia.

Symptoms of Pneumonia

• Shortness of breath
• Rapid breathing
• Coughing
• Fever
• Fatigue
• Loss of Appetite
• Muscle Aches
• Chills
• Chest Pain
• Nausea and vomiting
• Headache
• Retractions
• Accessory muscle use
• Abdominal breathing
• Confusion
• Cyanosis
• Sweating
• Runny nose
• Sore Throat ⁴

Pneumonia Risk Factors

• Age
• Smoking
• Overweight
• Weakened immune system
• Chronic Health Conditions
• Alcohol Abuse
• Hospitalization
• Ventilator
• Recent travel
• Exposure to air pollution
• Poor nutrition
• Malnutrition
• Medication Usage ⁴

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How to Develop a Pneumonia Nursing Care Plan

A nursing care plan helps nurses and other healthcare professionals meet short-term and long-term goals for the patient. So, when developing a pneumonia nursing care plan, the first step is determining those goals. Although you’ll generate parts of the nursing care plan on your own, the nursing diagnosis must be on the NANDA-I approved nursing diagnosis list.

According to the North American Nursing Diagnosis Association (NANDA),  a nursing diagnosis is “a clinical judgment about the human response to health conditions/life processes, or a vulnerability for that response, by an individual, family, group or community.”

A nursing diagnosis is rooted in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs pyramid and helps prioritize treatments. Based on the nursing diagnosis, you’ll set goals to resolve your patient’s problems through nursing implementations determined in the next step.

NANDA-I separates nursing diagnoses into four categories:

• Problem-focused: A diagnosis based on patient problems present during a nursing assessment.
• Risk: A diagnosis based on risk factors that require intervention from a nurse or healthcare team before a real problem develops.
• Health promotion: A diagnosis that intends to improve the overall well-being of an individual, family, or community.
• Syndrome: Based on a cluster of nursing diagnoses that occur in a pattern or can all be addressed through the same or similar nursing interventions.

Determining the most important goals for the patient and the corresponding nursing diagnosis provides the basis to create a pneumonia care plan that can best support the patient while reaching those goals.

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Pneumonia Nursing Care Plan Components

A nursing care plan has several key components, including: 

• Nursing Diagnosis
• Expected outcome
• Nursing interventions and rationales
• Evaluation

Each of the five main components is essential to the overall nursing process and care plan. A properly written care plan must include these sections. Otherwise, it won’t make sense.

• Nursing diagnosis: A clinical judgment that helps nurses determine the plan of care for their patients.
• Expected outcome: The measurable action for a patient to be achieved in a specific time frame. 
• Nursing interventions and rationales: Actions to be taken to achieve expected outcomes and reasoning behind them.
• Evaluation: Determines the effectiveness of the nursing interventions and determines if expected outcomes are met within the time set.

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Pneumonia Nursing Care Plan Examples

All nursing diagnoses must be NANDA-I approved and have corresponding definitions to help guide nurses in writing a nursing care plan.⁵

Other Nursing Care Plans

• Hypertension Nursing Care Plan
• Acute Pain Nursing Care Plan
• Constipation Nursing Care Plan
• Infection Nursing Care Plan

References

¹  “Pneumonia: Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis & Treatment.” n.d. Cleveland Clinic. Accessed April 4, 2025. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/4471-pneumonia.

²  “Community-Acquired Pneumonia in Adults.” n.d. Cedars-Sinai. Accessed April 4, 2025. https://www.cedars-sinai.org/health-library/diseases-and-conditions/c/community-acquired-pneumonia-in-adults.html.

³ Micek, Scott T., Katherine E. Kollef, Richard M. Reichley, Nareg Roubinian, and Marin H. Kollef. 2007. “Health Care-Associated Pneumonia and Community-Acquired Pneumonia: a Single-Center Experience.” Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy 51, no. 10 (October). https://doi.org/10.1128/aac.00851-07.

⁴ Ball, Jane W., Seidel's Guide to Physical Examination: An Interprofessional Approach. 9 ed., Elsevier, 2019.

⁵ Herdman, T. H., Shigemi Kamitsuru, and Camila Lopes, eds. 2024. NANDA-I International Nursing Diagnoses: Definitions & Classification, 2024-2026. 13th ed. N.p.: Thieme Medical Publishers.

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