Description (200 words)
It was during my first week clinical placement in the ward when I came across with the Waterlow risk assessment tool. My mentor made sure that I got all the risk assessment tools commonly used in the ward as these will play a key part in my duty as a qualified staff nurse. True enough, this risk assessment tool became visible in every patient’s charts and serial risk assessment was done on a weekly basis.
When I started shadowing with a qualified staff nurse and began caring for patients, performing this skin assessment tool became more prevalent. Every time a new patient was admitted either from another local hospital or ward this tool was never missed out. Furthermore, weekly accomplishment of this tool was mandatory as part of the prevention of pressure ulcers. On one occasion, I was asked to do a risk assessment to an acute patient. I filled in every portions of the assessment tool to the best of my ability and from the data I gathered from the patient. Apparently, after checking the assessment I was advised to read further about Waterlow risk assessment so that I would have a clear and better understanding of using it.
Feelings (119 words)
For some reason I felt inadequate and needed to start from scratch and read again books to keep myself updated with the clinical practice. I had worked in the Intensive care unit previously and I was trained to do pressure ulcer risk assessment to my patients. However, what I used before is quite different
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.
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.
In this assignment I will be assessing the hazards identified in the health and social care setting.
Lily will be assessed for her risk of developing a pressure ulcer. A number of evidence-based tools have been developed but the Waterlow pressure ulcer risk
The aim of this assignment is to explore the four stages of APIE, explaining their importance in nursing, as well as identifying possible problems within the stages, in relation to the videos of Joe. These issues will then be anaylsed using theory, to create possible explanations and consequences for the behaviour and actions shown by Joe and the nurses.
Implementing prevention plan for pressure ulcers would become a marker for a quality of care, which ultimately leads to improvement of quality by making healthcare more reliable, accessible, patient-centered and safe. As a part of the pressure ulcer prevention plan effort, one should regularly assess the pressure ulcer rates and practices. Steps to regularly monitor are: An outcome which can be pressure ulcer prevalence or incidence rates. Minimum one to two care processes (ex: skin assessment). Key aspects of the organizational structure to support best care practices. Below are the steps that will help to develop processes and measures for assessing pressure ulcer and practices.
* Use of risk assessment scales - risk assessments, pressure ulcer grading, and manual handling assessment tools.
This is a situation that many of us have experienced before. I know as a tele nurse I have many times. A patient that was admitted to our unit yesterday was assigned to us. They came to the hospital with heart failure and now they are having chest pain. Pain rating is subjective. We must take into consideration factors that affect the patients physiologic, psychologic, sociocultural, emotional and behavioral state. My assessment of this patient happens as soon as I walk into the room. I would notice the patients behavior. Does the patient appear in pain (crying, holding chest, grimacing)? Are they short of breath, diaphoretic? I would ask the patient to rate his pain using a face pain scale from 1 – 10. Utilization of the acronym OLD CART
When the pressure, is not frequently relived, the damage is caused and a pressure ulcer occurs. Judy waterlow (1985) introduced the Waterlow Score, whilst working as a clinical nurse, she designed this as a tool for her students to use as a guidance, for a risk assessment tool, to help in maintaining skin integrity. Waterlow (1985) suggests, that as a nurse professional, we can only use this as a guide, we must also use our own judgment, in defining the risks of the patient in our care. The cost implications to treatment of pressure ulcer care is expensive, costing the national healthcare service provider millions, with additional longer stay in hospital, the cost of each pressure ulcer and even reconstructive surgery, also with the additional suffering, of the patient at hand, the importance of minimizing the risks to pressure ulcer prevention, is imperative. Not only to bring, the costs down, but to serve our public, to the best of, our ability, in bringing excellence, in the care provided (Dziedzic, 2014).
Pressure ulcers are a serious problem in the medical world today. They affect millions of people and cost medical facilities billions of dollars annually. In order to help prevent pressure ulcers, it is important to understand how and why they happen, the risk factors involved for patients and what can be done to prevent them. Many studies have been done to assess different techniques for preventing and treating pressure ulcers. In addition to using the best medical products, it has been found that proper education for the nurse and the patient plays an integral role in the prevention and treatment of ulcers. This paper will discuss evidence based practice, the nursing role, and client education in pressure ulcer formation and healing.
It’s important to have these things in place to ensure the safety of the individual and the professional who work with them. Risk assessments provide detail information as what things need to be put into place to assist individual’s needs. This risk assessment this is to see what precautions you need to take and what you can do to prevent these things from happening in the first place. Workers and service users have the right to be protected in there working environment form harm
scoring framework to assess a patient's danger of developing a pressure ulcer. The most favored
The questionnaire that will be used to measure the clinical decision making skills of the nurses if the Nurse Decision Making Instrument by Lauri & Salantera (2002). It was originally developed as a 56-item scale based on Hammond’s (1996) Cognitive Continuum Theory and designed to investigate whether nurses make more analytic or intuitive decisions in practice. The instrument is used to determine in general terms how nurses’ decision making occurs on the continuum from analytical to intuitive. The instrument was originally structured to include four main stages of decision making: collecting information to define a patient’s condition; processing information to define nursing problems; planning and implementing; monitoring and evaluating nursing
Nurses are a vital component in patient care. The importance of conducting efficient nursing assessments is critical in order to provide both patient-centered care and safe, effective patient healing. Nurses are often responsible for taking care of patients with very complex disease processes. They frequently provide care to patients with illnesses such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2014, approximately 6.8 million adults were diagnosed with COPD within the Unites States. The completion of proper assessments and initiation of interventions for these patients are crucial in order to prevent further complications of the illness.