1810NRS Health Assessment-individual traits of the client

Knowledge of health assessment is essential to the registered nurse (RN) role in promoting health, preventing illness, and providing professional care for others. After completing this assignment, you will understand the purpose of health assessment in healthcare and how it will be conducted differently depending on the setting and individual traits of the client.

This assignment will also give you further opportunity to develop academic writing skills while exploring topics that are integral to understanding the RN role.

Task Description

 

For this task, you need to write an essay of 1200 words, supported appropriately by recent, scholarly literature. In the essay you need to:

Section A:

1. Define the terms “health” and “assessment” and write a paragraph in which you clearly describe “health assessment” in the context of nursing.

2. Discuss the importance of health assessment in planning and delivering holistic care and give an example of how a nurse would do this.

Section B:

1. Discuss the purpose of a health assessment from a nursing perspective with reference to a framework such as the Nursing Process or the Clinical Reasoning Cycle.

Section C:

In this section, the process of taking a health assessment is the focus. The three main components of a health assessment are general survey, patient history, and physical examination.

Discuss how a health assessment would need to be tailored to the individual patient in 2 (two) of the scenarios below. For each of the 2 (two) chosen scenarios, also identify 4 (four) different aspects of health assessment, including features of the setting, as well as developmental, age-specific information, cultural and/or lifespan factors that may impact the interaction between a nurse and patient.

1. Mr A a 76-year-old man who resides in an aged care facility, is having his annual health review. The man has a hearing deficit, osteoporosis and intermittent constipation, and is visited by his daughter weekly.

2. Master B a 6-month-old male child (accompanied by his parent) recently immigrated from Sudan and is visiting a child health nurse. The child has no known health challenges.

3. Mr C, a 54-year-old man who has had a bowel operation today and the nurse is caring for him on the ward. The man identifies as Torres Strait Islander and his wife is sitting with him as he recovers.

4. Ms D, a 22-year-old female (who has recently moved interstate for study) presents at the emergency department having had a slow speed motor vehicle accident on her scooter.

5. Mrs E, a 48-year-old female, recently diagnosed with high blood pressure, is visiting the general practice office where the nurse works as a practice nurse. The client is a single mother with 2 teenage children.