in need of help please

[tamba]

hello everyone,

I'm new to the forum and have recently started my training, i have just finished my first placement and needed to ask my mentor, what types of nursing knowledge underpins an assessment process, and would be really grateful for some help as i only saw my mentor for 20 min as he was to busy to spend any time with me, i am really stuck and my essays due in next week so would really appreciate advice thank you. xx

[Rosa2Little]

Hi There.

I feel your pain. I am currently goofing off and not doing my own health assessment paper. Mine is a comprehensive health interview and complete physical exam in APA format, so it's quite lengthy. But I venture to guess your paper is not an actual exam?

Think about the steps needed -- first the interview (good listening skills, understanding developmental considerations -- is it a child, an adult, an elderly person, and what of cultural considerations), then the actual physical assessment: inspection, palpation, percussion, auscultation -- what skills do you think the nurse will need to rely on? Follow up with documentation -- clear,concise and through. Remember that old adage if it isn't documented, it didn't happen.

Hope that helps some. I know others can probably contribute more.

Good Luck!

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

if you go to:

https://allnurses.com/forums/f205/health-assessment-resources-techniques-forms-145091.html

- health assessment resources, techniques, and forms (in nursing student assistance forum)

you will find links to lots of assessment resources. basically, when you are doing an assessment of a patient you are looking at them and listening to them. you use all your sensory skills: sight, touch, smell, hearing, tasting (well, maybe not that one so much!). you also need to keep in mind the normal anatomy and physiology of a human being. as you assess someone you are constantly asking yourself if what you are "seeing" in this patient is normal or not as you progress through examining the systems of their body.