Nursing Student Needs Help With Ortho Assessment

Oct 04, 2004 07:08 PM

by Krysten

My instructer wants us to do a complete orthopedic assessment and than a orthopedic assessment of a pt who has a fracture hip and shoulder. My question... is there a different type of assessment on a person who has a fracture hip and shoulder than a general orth assessment? also are there any websites for a orth assessment? Thank you

znov11 · Sep 13, 2008, 09:23 AM

Re: Nursing Student Needs Help With Ortho Assessment

We have the same question. I hope someone gives us sites and references for orthopedic assessment. ^^

elefantastic · Sep 15, 2008, 08:13 AM

Re: Nursing Student Needs Help With Ortho Assessment

maybe your instructor means doing an assessment of the patients extremity for color, pulses, sensation, movement, etc.. that isn't part of a "normal" assessment, but after surgery to a body part it's important to look at. like for a knee replacement, you'd look for pedal pulses, movement of the foot/toes, skin color, capillary refill, you'd ask the patient if they had any numbness/tingling in the extremity. if the patient is in a cast following surgery, you'd probably want to do neurovascular checks for 24hrs following surgery, to make sure the cast isn't so tight it's impeding on circulation/etc.. hope this helps!

**P_RN** · Sep 18, 2008, 06:46 PM

Re: Nursing Student Needs Help With Ortho Assessment

Start at the head and work down to the piggy toe. Of course with the hip and the shoulder you won't get full movement and probably not full sensation, though that would be nice to see.

New To Site	Need Help	Quick Links
Create An Account General Site Map allnurses.com Journals Terms Of Service Privacy Policy Testimonials Meet Our Staff Advertising Information	Information Center & FAQ Boards of Nursing How-To Video Tutorials Did you forget your password? Compare Membership Contact allnurses.com Text Version Mark All Sections As Read	United States Nursing International Nursing Nursing Specialty Advanced Practice Nursing Critical Care Nursing Nursing Specialties Get In Touch... Find Us On Facebook Follow Us On Twitter

Nursing Student Needs Help With Ortho Assessment

Nursing Student Needs Help With Ortho Assessment

Nursing News

lawsuit - But don't most RN's work through breaks/lunch...

Patient Evaluation of Retail Clinic Care

The hard to reach on-call doctor, and its effects on...

Woman charged with passing off prescription drug as...

Man in "Vegetative State" was conscious for 23...

Interesting article on ThedaCare's Collaborative Care Model

Possible breakthrough regarding MS

16th Philly area hospital to stop delivering babies: Mercy...

Really interesting article on Indian open hearts

High-Tech Pump Does What Her Heart Can't

Available Topics (tags)