Health Assessment, Module Two- Self Actualization

By carrying out an assessment nurses can identify the causes of problems that require medical involvement. Nettina (2006)

The assessment process is the back bone to any package of care and it is vital that it is personal and appropriate to the individual concerned. Although studies have found that there is no singular theory or understanding as to what the purpose of assessment is, there are different approaches and forms of assessment carried out in health and social care. These different approaches can sometimes result in different outcomes.

The evaluation of the nursing process is demonstrating the understanding of how to asses a patients overall life by using the 6 holistic approaches towards nursing which are; social, cultural, spiritual, developmental, physical and psychological. The 6 holistic approaches towards nursing are used for the nursing assessment phase within the nursing process to identify all key aspects of assessment and the skill of not just assessing someone on their physical wounds but also their wounds you as a healthcare worker may be unable to identify visually. The National Board of Nursing and Midwifery explains that all nurses and midwives are responsible for a patient’s level of care whether it be physically or any other 5 of the holistic approach to the nursing assessment (NMBA, 2006). Using the holistic approach towards nursing assessment doesn’t necessarily mean that the health care worker has to formally write down a nursing assessment it can simply be done when a healthcare worker is washing a patient, feeding a patient, giving medication and more, this is why a nursing assessment using the holistic approach is the most effective way to conduct a nursing assessment.

Nursing process is a systematic process that involves a continuous cycle of five interrelated phases: holistic assessment of a client, nursing diagnoses, nursing care planning, implementation, and evaluation (Wilkinson et al. 2015). It enables nurses to assess the person’s health status and health care needs, to create plans to meet the identified needs, and to provide and evaluate individualised nursing interventions according to the person’s needs (Luxford 2015). The holistic assessment is the first step of the nursing process that includes the collection of subjective and objective data related to the physical, psychological, social, developmental, cultural, and spiritual status of a client (Wilkinson et al. 2015). This comprehensive approach to nursing assessment is essential because it allows nurses to comprehend not only clients’ health status, but also their routines and needs in order to incorporate their life-styles into the care interventions (Luxford 2015). It ultimately enables nurses to provide appropriate quality person-centred care rather than nurse-initiated care (Luxford 2015). Responsibility for holistic nursing assessment is supported by the Registered nurse standards for practice (2016), ‘Standard 4.1: The registered nurse conducts assessments that are holistic as well as culturally appropriate’ (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia [NMBA] 2016, p. 4). This essay will discuss the elements and the importance of holistic assessment in nursing.

This author’s personal philosophy in practice is to provide holistic care to my patients and their families. This author feels that encompassing the whole family or the patients support framework in the plan of care is the best approach to returning the patient to their optimum state of health. It is important to this author to evaluate the all of the aspects of the patient’s lives that they will share. It is important to evaluate the patient’s learning style,

Health assessment is also vital in collecting information in the nursing process. In order to collect data in a systematic and standardized approach, and enable the nurse to determine different aspects of health and human function, the Gordon Functional Health Patterns which have 11 categories are usually used as a framework of the assessment.

Assessment of a patient is a big process of decision making, it is about the collection of information which will contribute to an overall judgement of a person and the illness they may have. Lloyd (2010) states that assessment is one of the first steps which is needed to be done in the nursing process, it is a building block for a relationship and an ongoing process which lets health professionals gather the correct information to help them understand the problems and needs that the patient is going through. Most of the nursing assessment which are in use today will all have very similar aims. The difference is that how the assessment’s are carried out is where the differences come from.

A family health assessment is a process by which a nurse evaluates and describes the health status of a given family. It is a framework that helps to identify areas of potential risk for illness, opportunities for health education and actions needed to address these (World Health Organization, 2001). Specifics covered in a nurse led family assessment will include family history, perceptions about health, reports, health records, and any clinic test results. The nurse conducts an interview, compiles data and performs an appropriate

In this Assessment nursing course, one of the major things that is taught is the most important part of giving proper care to a patient. Correct patient assessment is needed before any nursing care plan or treatment can be implemented. This post-review of a person’s assessment will demonstrate the proper way to go about assessing a person’s health.

Family health assessment is an integral part of the formula used in creating a customized plan of care for the families’ health care. Family health assessment is also a tool that can be used to identify and evaluate the family’s health concerns, their life style and also helping families make good decisions regarding their family’s health. Family’s perception towards health and health promotion could be very different and unique, which makes the Family health assessment even more challenging for the nurses and health care professionals. Nurse’s have a moral obligation towards the society to help them promote their families health. The

Assessment in the nursing process will establish the patients' ongoing needs and provide a quality of care best suited to the individual, to achieve a desirable health outcome.

I will methodically analyze all parts of the study to assess the validity of the article, by contrasting and comparing the information provided, with previous literature. I will try to make sure that recommendations provided by the authors are congruous with nursing practice and beneficial to the advancement of it. I will as much as possible provide in depth detail of previous studies on the same topic that either support or contradict the analysis provided by this study and its authors.

Assessment is described as”The first stage of the nursing process, in which data about the patient’s health status is collected” (Oxford dictionary of nursing, 2003, p23), following this phase a care plan can be devised.

Health history provides a complete picture of the patient’s past and present health. Health history has the sequence of categories: biographical data, source of history, reason for seeking care, history of present illness, past history, family history, review of system and functional assessment (Jarvis, 2015). These information may encompass changing environmental factors that patient may perceive or experience described in concepts under RAM. Internal and external stimuli that patient may perceive may lead to seeking care in first

2.Family History of health and Illness3. History of Past Illness…………………………………………….….………94.History of Present Illness…………………………………………….……….95.Physical Assessment...........................................................................................96.Diagnostics and laboratory Procedures………………………..…………….187.Anatomy And