cluster sheet

Nursing Students Student Assist

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I am a first semester nursing student. We are required to fill out a cluster sheet on a client that has two columns. One is signs/symptoms and the other is risk factors. I am having a hard time distinguishing between the two. Can anyone help on this?

Specializes in Med/Surg, Tele, IM, OB/GYN, neuro, GI.

Ok I don't know what a cluster sheet is but we use something like what you're describing for our nursing diagnoses. Signs and symptoms you'll put anything that the patient says or you can see lab values and radiology exams count. Risk factors would be anything that they can catch or have from their signs and symptoms.

EX. wound on left leg=risk for infection

low RBC=risk for anemia

vomiting=risk for dehydration

Hope this helps.

Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

Do you have a good college dictionary? If you don't understand what something means, look it's definition up. This is the definition of "risk":

"the chance of injury, damage, or loss; dangerous chance; hazard; the degree of probability of loss."
Webster's New World Dictionary
, College Edition, The World Publishing Company, 1966.

Basically, you are wanting to list the complications, injuries, damages or losses that can occur that are related to the patient's medical diagnoses or symptoms they are having. This presumes that you understand the pathophysiology of the disease process going on underlying each of the symptoms. Again, if you don't, you need to use a pathophysiology book for reference.

Thanks!

Do you have a good college dictionary? If you don't understand what something means, look it's definition up. This is the definition of "risk":

"the chance of injury, damage, or loss; dangerous chance; hazard; the degree of probability of loss."
Webster's New World Dictionary
, College Edition, The World Publishing Company, 1966.

Basically, you are wanting to list the complications, injuries, damages or losses that can occur that are related to the patient's medical diagnoses or symptoms they are having. This presumes that you understand the pathophysiology of the disease process going on underlying each of the symptoms. Again, if you don't, you need to use a pathophysiology book for reference.

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