Health Assessment

Servingshots · May 9, 2010

I also have to take this class my first semester and wondering the same thing?

That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B · May 9, 2010

Do yourself a favor and get a good stethoscope right out of the gate. So much easier to hear when you have good equipment to help.

cupcake231 · May 9, 2010

Do yourself a favor and get a good stethoscope right out of the gate. So much easier to hear when you have good equipment to help.

Awesome thank you! Do you have any brands that you could recommend to me?

That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B · May 9, 2010

I say Littmann by 3M or nothing at all. That is my personal experience and I'm sure many on this board will echo that statement.

Elle_Guerira · May 9, 2010

First off, congratulations in starting nursing school :up: ! In Health Assessment, you'll be taught how to perform a head-to-toe assessment, conduct an interview, & understand your normals. Doing the head-to-toe the first couple of tries will be daunting at first, but after a while, you'll be performing it with ease. Having a cheat sheet outlining the steps is helpful. Asides from the steth (if you want the absolute best, you can't go wrong with Littmann, but it isn't cheap), I also recommend getting a non-disposable penlight too. I bought mine in Target for 4-5$ & its definitely come in handy. Lastly, & this should be applied to all your nursing courses, read 1 week ahead & manage your time.

Tristan Young · May 9, 2010

Don't know about you but i'm a visual learner. Watch vids... ask your instructor to demo an assessment!

Faith213 · May 9, 2010

I say Littmann by 3M or nothing at all. That is my personal experience and I'm sure many on this board will echo that statement.

I definitely agree with this. I have a Littmann master cardiology and my classmates were amazed at how much better they could hear with it. It made it so much easier to differentiate between different breath sounds, heart sounds, and to hear any murmurs that are present. I've heard that all the Littmann stethoscopes are wonderful and they are pricey, but it's a good investment.

spritez · May 9, 2010

Practice, practice, practice! It's tough to juggle all your courses, but you'll make it easier on yourself when it comes to Head-To-Toe testing if you take the time to make sure you understand the assessment skills taught every week.

Good luck! Assessment is fun! You get to practice on each other!

dudette10, MSN, RN · May 9, 2010

First off, congratulations in starting nursing school ! In Health Assessment, you'll be taught how to perform a head-to-toe assessment, conduct an interview, & understand your normals. Doing the head-to-toe the first couple of tries will be daunting at first, but after a while, you'll be performing it with ease. Having a cheat sheet outlining the steps is helpful. Asides from the steth (if you want the absolute best, you can't go wrong with Littmann, but it isn't cheap), I also recommend getting a non-disposable penlight too. I bought mine in Target for 4-5$ & its definitely come in handy. Lastly, & this should be applied to all your nursing courses, read 1 week ahead & manage your time.

Getting a good steth is great advice. You WILL use it during your practice. I have a Littmann Classic SE II (I think) for about $80, and it was worth every penny. Just DO NOT let people borrow it during clinicals!!! Another thing is that the tubing comes in a LOT of colors. Try to pick a color that you think no one else will have to prevent it from magically walking off by itself.

As for the penlight, I could also suggest buying a set of disposables for around $7 for a pack of 5. I prefer the disposables only because people borrow them all the time, including nurses and clinical instructors! :lol2: I keep three in my scrubs pocket at clinicals.

Health assessment is fun, and you may need to recruit members of your family as patients, especially when practicing for lab finals. My kids were willing participants. If you don't have kids, maybe borrow a niece/nephew or little cousin for the day. Their parents will love the free babysitting for a couple of hours, and the kids are an absolute HOOT when you do your "assessment".

cupcake231 · May 10, 2010

This is just awesome advice! Thank you everyone! I am sooo excited!!!!

turnforthenurse, MSN, NP · May 11, 2010

Congratulations on getting into nursing school! :yeah:

Health Assessment was one of my favorite classes. In my class we went through each body system and how to assess them, then at then we learned how to piece everything together and perform a head-to-toe assessment. You will learn how to listen to heart/lung/bowel sounds. I would get a good stethoscope! I used a Littmann Classic II S.E. all throughout nursing school and I highly recommend it (I upgraded to the Cardiology III which I love even more but the Classic II S.E. is perfect for nursing school). Some people like Ultrascopes and one of my friends has one that I tried but I honestly like my Littmann a lot more. Just be sure to either get your name engraved or buy an ID tag for it because Littmanns tend to "walk away" if you leave them unattended!