Physical Assessment Skills In The Nursing Profession

Communication is one of the basic survival skills of human and also a fundamental part of nursing. Effective communication would help to promote a positive nurse-client relationship which is crucial for the delivery of quality nursing care (Sheppard, 1993; McCabe 2003).

Communication is usually taken for granted in our every day to day living as we use it without thought. Good communication skills are needed in the workplace and especially with nursing staff to and from patients when giving first hand care. Good or bad communication can make there experience within the health care setting a positive or negative one and can leave a lasting impression. A good health care provider can use there communication skills to put a patient at ease with a few comforting words or gestures, a lack of positive communication in the health care setting could leave the patient feeling neglected, ignored and not valued as a patient.

Comprehensive assessments is the most valuable piece which allows Nurse Practitioners to know about the health risks, strengths and needs of their patients. Furthermore, the comprehensive assessment strengths the relationship between the Nurse Practitioners and their patients. From clinician-patients relationship, it helps a complete assessment to answer patients questions which in the long run help to achieve measurable goals and provide quality outcomes to the patients. Nurse Practitioners use comprehensive assessment approach to analyze, interpret, implement and follow up care to ensure their patients receive appropriate care and prevent inappropriate diagnosis. Comprehensive assessment is where the patients are encourage to

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.

The head to toe physical assessment is the first step of the nursing process and is a systemic approach of collecting objective (physical) and subjective (mental) data on the patient that will help the nurse formulate nursing diagnoses and plan patient care. It is also used to confirm or question data that was stated in the pt. previous history stated in the charts and to evaluate the effectiveness of the nursing interventions that were carried out on the patient. The main focus of the head-to-toe assessment is to focus on what the patient is currently presenting with; the patient's responses to actual or potential problems.

Assessment is the initial stage of the nursing process. Roper et al consistently use the term ‘assessing’ to signify that it is an on-going process, and highlights its continuity throughout the patient’s episode of care (Aggleton & Chalmers, 2000). It is divided into two stages to allow for a holistic representation of the patient to be established (Barrett et al, 2009). Effective assessment allows the prompt identification of any changes in a patient’s health status, and if necessary; allows any action to be carried out immediately supporting the delivery of safe, effective care DH (). The formulation of an accurate assessment is a fundamental skill for a student nurse as outlined by the NMC (2004), and so it is important that a holistic approach is adopted for this skill to be achieved. An holistic approach supports the consideration of……..needs,(THEME?) which

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.

Communication is life long learning skills for nurses. Communication can be in different forms. It can be verbal or non verbal. Communication is important

Hello Frances, excellent thoughts on your initial post. I felt the same way too. I was nervous and overwhelmed when I started this course. I thought my assessment skills were thorough. However, with this course, I realized that I still have room for improvement. I agree it is essential to treat our patients holistically. Nurses must include the patient’s culture and values, family and social roles, self-care behaviors, job related stress, developmental tasks, and failures and frustration of life in their health assessments (Jarvis, 2012). Additionally, The Shadow Health assessment with Ms. Tina Jones was a great learning experience. With Ms. Tina Jones I achieved the course objective of communicating effectively, writing my documentations accurately,

The first stage of the process is assessment. Roper et al (2001) refer to this process as ‘assessing’ indicating an ongoing activity; this encourages nurses to recognise the on-going nature of this initial phase. The assessing stage includes gathering information about a patient, reviewing this information, identifying actual and potential problems and prioritising (Roper et al 2001). Roper et al (2001) explain the importance for assessing, as early as possible in the patient’s stay. Extensive, in-depth information may not be gathered on an initial assessment, however any information obtained contributes towards individualised care (Roper et al 2001). Ambrose and Wittig (1998) explain that the initial assessment becomes a foundation for ongoing assessing and holistic care. Barrett, Wilson and Woollands (2009) concord with Roper et al and Wittig in that assessing is an ongoing process and elaborate on this explaining that assessment should not be confused with admission. They state “an admission tends to be a one-off process when you first meet the patient, whereas assessment carries on throughout your relationship with the patient” (pg22). Assessment enables the nurse and patient to identify actual and potential problems. Although, some problems can be directly related to biological needs, holistic needs must be considered, i.e. psychological state and cultural/social standing

The patient is a 45 year old man who had GI surgery 4 days ago.  He is NPO, has a nasogastric tube, and IV fluids of D51/2saline at 100 mL/hr.  The nursing physical assessment includes the following:  alert and oriented; fine crackles; capillary refill within normal limits; moving all extremities, complaining of abdominal pain, muscle aches, and "cottony" mouth; dry mucous membranes, bowel sounds hypoactive, last BM four days ago; skin turgor is poor; 200 mL of dark green substance has drained from NG tube in last 3 hours.  Voiding dark amber urine without difficulty.  Intake for last 24 hours is 2500mL.  Output is 2000mL including urine and NG drainage.  Febrile and diaphoretic; BP 130/80; pulse 88; urine specific gravity 1.035; serum

Communication is not only an essential component of an effective nursing process, but also a key component in every aspect of your life. Nurses use good communication skills to gain the trust of their patient and improve outcomes by doing so. Therefore, we can use the same skills with our family, friends, children and co-workers. Miscommunication can have a negative impact on everyone around you including your co-workers.

Assessment is the accurate collection of comprehensive data pertinent to the patient’s health or the situation (“American Nurses Association,” 2010). Assessment is the first step in the nursing process and the most important. Assessment is the accurate collection of the patient’s health date

Throughout this complete health assessment, I will approach my patient, a 49 years old, female, married patient, and perform a head to toe examination. Starting with the gathering of information, I will start with biographic data, reason for seeking care, present illness, past health history, family history, functional assessment, perception of health, head to toe examination, and baseline measurements. The subjective data will be collected first, where the patient will provide necessary information about every organ system for further examination while the objective data will be amassed in every system based on my findings. This assignment serves as an opportunity to establish a nurse-client interpersonal relationship that

Nursing topics were grouped together so that it flowed logically together and the nurse only needed to indicate negative exceptions to a healthy assessment. This would also minimize charting and clarify problematic areas in the patient’s assessment. If a section was normal, a quick check box indicating “no problems noted” was provided.