Hi, Matt. . .the three "checks" of medication administration are to verify you have the right drug for the right patient at least three times before actually having the patient take it. The first check is when you actually take the medication from the shelf or the medicine cart. The second check might be when you compare the drug against the medication record or doctor's order. The third time is usually right at the very moment you are giving the drug to the patient and you verify one last time that you have the correct drug, for the correct patient as written on your medication sheet.
I don't know how familiar you are with the allnurses forums, but there is a thread in the nursing student forums on assessments. There are a number of weblinks there on physical examination that you might want to check out:
http://allnurses.com/forums/f205/health-assessment-resources-techniques-forms-145091.html - Health Assessment Resources, Techniques, and Forms (in Nursing Student Assistance Forum)
And, I was getting ready to post these to the thread, but I haven't had a chance to check to see if all these sites are still active:
http://md-do.org/Files/Physical/h&ptempl.doc - this is a template that lists the elements of the history and ROS that should be addressed
http://www.training.seer.cancer.gov/module_cancer_terminology/unit05_sec01.html - this is a very simple explanation of the history collecting process part of the physical examination process
http://web.archive.org/web/20041115042143/www.vnh.org/Shipwreck/Shipwreck.html - the U.S. Navy's Shipwreck's Go-By Physical Examination Guide used by naval corpsmen. An excellent source for learning how to do a physical assessment
http://www.childbirths.com/euniversity/taking%20history.htm - Taking a history. A brief discussion about talking with a patient while performing a history and review of systems and how to actively listen.
http://www.sinclair.edu/academics/alh/departments/nsg/pub/npt%20web.doc - a 26 page nursing process assessment tool from Sinclair Community College Nursing Program in Dayton, Ohio.
http://www.sinclair.edu/academics/alh/departments/nsg/pub/directions.doc these are the directions for using this extensive form
http://www.sinclair.edu/academics/alh/departments/nsg/pub/patient.doc - patient care worksheet for one patient for a student in the clinical area
http://www.stbarnabashospital.org/FP/sampleh&p.doc - this is a guideline as to how the results of a history, review of systems and physical examination should be written up.
http://depts.washington.edu/~physdx/ - this is the website of a class for Advanced Physical Diagnosis at the University of Washington School of Medicine. At this site are examination techniques and information on heart sounds and murmurs, liver and ascites, the neck veins, pulmonary and thyroid.
http://www.nursewise.com/courses/abdassess_hour.htm - abdominal assessment written by a nurse for nurses
http://www.nursewise.com/courses/neuro_hour.htm#Glascow%20Coma%20Scale - neuro assessment written by a nurse for nurses
http://www.nursingcenter.com/prodev/ce_article.asp?tid=615494 - a CE article from the December 2005 edition of the
American Journal of Nursing entitled "Listening to Bowel Sounds"
http://campus.murraystate.edu/academic/faculty/connie.siefker/201PVS.html - assessment of the peripheral vascular system. Includes normals and gradings for edema, pain, emboli, ulcerations, changes in skin turgor and color, etc.
http://www.bscc.cc.al.us/health/hnvessels.pdf - 48 page document on cardiac assessment
http://www.austincc.edu/adnlev1/rnsg1144/physical_assessment/notes_physical_assessment.htm - an nursing instructor from Austin Community College's lecture outline on physical assessment.
http://www.austincc.edu/adnlev1/rnsg1144/physical_assessment/practice_phys_assess.htm -this is the worksheet the instructor designed as a step-by-step guide to help students do a physical assessment.
http://www.austincc.edu/adnlev1/rnsg1144/physical_assessment_b/index.htm - part 2
http://www.austincc.edu/adnlev1/rnsg1144/physical_assessment_c/index.htm - part 3
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