Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is used in planning to:

• A. Establish priorities for care
• B. Determine medication dosages
• C. Schedule follow-up appointments
• D. Record patient satisfaction

Answer: (A)

Maslow's hierarchy helps you decide what needs to be addressed first in a patient's care plan by organizing needs from the most basic to the more complex. In practice, you start with the essential physiological needs and safety, such as ensuring adequate air, fluid, nutrition, and a safe environment. Only after those foundational needs are reasonably met do you address higher-level concerns like belonging, self-esteem, and eventual self-actualization. This ordering ensures that life-sustaining and safety issues are resolved first, which stabilizes the patient and makes subsequent interventions more effective. It also guides how you allocate time, resources, and nursing interventions in a busy setting, focusing on essential needs before moving on to psychosocial or developmental goals. Medication dosages and schedules come from clinical status and pharmacology guidelines, not from Maslow’s framework, and documenting satisfaction is a separate quality or evaluative task rather than a planning priority.