Clinicals: what does ongoing assessment mean to you? And tips on doing it.

[northmississippi]

What does an ongoing assessment mean to you while doing hospital clinicals? And how can impress my teacher with this type of assessment? Thanks.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

It means you don't just do an initial assessment when you first see the patient and never again the rest of the shift. It means your assessment is, well, ongoing. Every time you see that patient, touch him, speak with her, observe her, you're always on the look out. It doesn't necessarily mean you're doing a full physical assessment every hour (unless, god forbid, you're in the ICU and things are going to hell in a handbasket) but it means you are always observant for things that might be important.

See if you could think of some things you might want to observe often in, say, a patient with CHF who got furosemide at 0800 after your initial exam. Get the idea? That you are thinking ahead about what you should look for and charting your observations is what your faculty wants to see.