Why Nurses need to be able to Discuss Concepts of Physical Assessment
Why Nurses need to be able to Discuss Concepts of Physical Assessment
Nursing assessment is a core component of the nursing process and involves collecting data on the patient. Integral to the comprehensive nursing assessments is physical assessment. It is the process of evaluating anatomic findings likely to suggest the presence of an illness in the patient. It utilizes observations, auscultations, percussions, and palpation in its attempt to identify abnormalities in the anatomic features that give insight into any underlying pathology. Physical examination findings can be integrated with the subjective data to come up with a diagnosis.
Physical assessments usually follow through systems. Comprehensive physical examinations assess major body systems such as the integumentary, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, respiratory, and neurological systems. Maintaining knowledge of these systems, as well as how they function and appear, is thus key in the comprehensive assessment of patients as it helps in informing disease diagnosis. Nurses, therefore, must know these systems and how they vary across the human developmental lifespan.
Discussing concepts of physical assessment helps nurses elucidate anatomical changes due to disease and those attributed to normal human developmental processes. In the human development process, anatomical and physiological alterations become apparent. The transition from childhood through to adulthood is usually characterized by changes at organ and tissue levels that have a predilection on how organ systems will appear and function (Fontenot et al., 2022). Consequently, in the integumentary system, skin tends to become thinner and more fragile as an individual ages. During assessment, it is thus important for nurses to elucidate changes attributable to normal human developmental processes and those due to disease processes.
Discussing physical assessment concepts also enhances nurses’ efficiency when handling various groups of patients. Variations in the anatomical features of human across the lifespan may sometimes impact their handling requirements. As individuals age, functionality declines due to senile atrophy becomes apparent. While this has a trajectory on what they can or cannot do, it also affects care processes (Fontenot et al., 2022). For instance, changes in the anatomy of the musculoskeletal systems may present the patient with fragility and weakness. This may put them at risk of fall injuries. Such patients have a higher nursing care acuity and may sometimes warrant preventive care.
The space of nurses in contemporary healthcare warrants nursing excellence. In their pursuit to excel and subsequently optimize clinical outcomes, they are obligated to maintain knowledge of key aspects of nursing operationalizations. As evident above, nursing processes are important guides to effective nursing. Understanding critical principles of infection control and safety, the significance of concepts of physical assessment, and the prerequisite clinical judgment skills will reinforce their positions in healthcare.
References
Dewi, L., Hamid, A. Y., & Sekarsari, R. (2023). Experiences of infection prevention and Control Nurses (IPCNs) in performing their roles and duties in the Indonesia Army Central Hospital: A qualitative descriptive study. Belitung Nursing Journal, 9(2), 145–151. https://doi.org/10.33546/bnj.2482
Fontenot, N. M., Hamlin, S. K., Hooker, S. J., Vazquez, T., & Chen, H. (2022). Physical Assessment Competencies for Nurses: A Quality Improvement Initiative. Nursing Forum, 57(4), 710–716. https://doi.org/10.1111/nuf.12725