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You start... head to toe lol. Then I chart in that fashion. Start with cognition. Your assessment should start as soon as you walk in the room. Hi, so and so I'm ____ I'll be your student nurse for today. Can I have your name? Go on to find out if they're oriented go place and time as well. How's their appetite and pain scale? Are they aphasic? PERRLA. Mucous membranes. Face symmetrical? Neck supple? Lung sounds? Heart sounds. Bowel sounds. Hand grasps. Edema? Pedal push. Pedal pulses present? It's easier to go in an orderly fashion.
The best advice I can think of is keep practicing until you are comfortable. Try doing a head to toe assessment on someone at home or with another student. Give them a list and they can let you know at the end what you missed- this is probably better to do with a student so they know what to look for.
You mentioned the nurses not doing complete assessments. Their assessments are probably complete but they've just become really efficient.
This is my full head to toe assessment that I used during clinical. My instructor was able to do all of this in less than 10 minutes. I would probably take 10-15 minutes.
Neuro
LOC/AAO x3
balance/gait/coordination
sensory/thought process
PERRLA
Cranial Nerves: symmetry, tone,pain
Cardiac
heart sounds, pulses
capillary refill, perfusion
ekg
edema
laboratory
blood pressure
skin temperature
Pulmonary
breath sounds
respiratory rate and effort
depth/symmetry
coughing
sputum
spO2
blood gases
use of O2 delivery
Gastrointestinal
bowel sounds, appetite
abdomen: appearance, distention,masses
Last BM, difficulties
tubes and drain
NVD
I and O
Genitourinary
urinary frequency, characteristics
foley assessment
skin appearance
bladder distention
urinalysis
I and O
LMP
IV Assessments
check surrounding skin
check IV fluids running in, checkpatency flush and pull back
check correct IV fluid and rate
Check IV tubing date, dressing,intactness
check awareness of IV
Skin issues
back
moistness
There is a possibility the nurses are doing a focused assessment. Unless it is a new admit to the unit, this is usually what is done (with some exceptions, including the ICU). For example, you are not going to assess every cranial nerve on a patient who is admitted with a non-neuro problem. In school, they may demand that you do a full head-to-toe on every patient--and it is easiest if you truly move from head to toe.
Also, as others have hinted, nurses learn to multitask. For example, your introduction to the patient alone gives you a lot of your neuro assessment. Just from observing the patient you learn much of the rest of the information--facial symmetry, cognition, etc. As you go through other assessments, you complete the rest of it. When you assess for edema/pedal pulses/cap refill, you will also assess for sensation and movement in the legs.
Rather than saying you are doing a "cardiac" assessment and a "pulmonary" assessment, you would be doing a "chest" assessment. Rather than listen to lungs, assess expansion, etc. then move on to listen to heart sounds, etc., you cover both at the same time in your assessment (i.e. listen to the heart on the front of the chest, then move right on to listen the lungs on the back on the chest). This comes with experience, but eventually your assessment of systems meld together and you "cluster" the steps in your assessment.
This is my full head to toe assessment that I used during clinical. My instructor was able to do all of this in less than 10 minutes. I would probably take 10-15 minutes.Neuro
LOC/AAO x3
balance/gait/coordination
sensory/thought process
PERRLA
Cranial Nerves: symmetry, tone,pain
Cardiac
heart sounds, pulses
capillary refill, perfusion
ekg
edema
laboratory
blood pressure
skin temperature
Pulmonary
breath sounds
respiratory rate and effort
depth/symmetry
coughing
sputum
spO2
blood gases
use of O2 delivery
Gastrointestinal
bowel sounds, appetite
abdomen: appearance, distention,masses
Last BM, difficulties
tubes and drain
NVD
I and O
Genitourinary
urinary frequency, characteristics
foley assessment
skin appearance
bladder distention
urinalysis
I and O
LMP
IV Assessments
check surrounding skin
check IV fluids running in, checkpatency flush and pull back
check correct IV fluid and rate
Check IV tubing date, dressing,intactness
check awareness of IV
Skin issues
back
moistness
That is quite an extensive list. In practice you won't be doing such an in depth assessment unless they are a new admit or it is ICU. I tend to do a focused assessment due to why they are on my floor. There are things such as assess gait that if they are bed bound or already in bed for night shift that I won't do. Urinalysis is only done if you have an order or you think they might be brewing something. A lot of the pulmonary system you are assessing while talking with the pt. Respiratory rate, cough, need for o2, coughing etc can all be noted while talking with the pt when you enter the room.
I have a form that our professors had use fill out. It has places for 3 assessments. I keep it in my pocket and use it to write down information for charting. As I write info down, I am quickly reviewing the form for things I might be forgetting. The more I do, the less that happens. The first time I used it, not only was it reminding me of what I need to do, I was able to quickly mark the information down.
This is also an excellent argument for some aspects of primary nursing, i.e., don't turf off bed baths to the CNA. You can assess just about all of this except the stuff you need a stethoscope for in the course of doing a bath. You make conversation, and although it sounds informal and off the cuff, it's very focused. You listen to the person's answers, check movement, range of motion, ability to follow directions, skin condition, edema, pulses, all that as you move smoothly along. You ask those four critical questions that predict successful discharge: How may steps to go up to get into your / apartment? Do you have a way to fill your prescriptions? Can you get to your PCP? Who shops and cooks for you? Multitasking is good.
erickz623
69 Posts
Hi guys!
So, I'm having trouble when performing a head to toe assessment on my patients in clinical.
What do you guys typically start with and how long does it take you? I find myself referring back to my notes frequently to make sure I didn't forget to assess something.
I've seen multiple RNs do an assessment, but they're in and out within 5-10 minutes. More often than not, they don't do a complete assessment so I haven't had a good example thus far.
I'm looking forwards to your responses!