Week 1: Assessment Introduction & Foundational Patient Assessments and Techniques Flashcards
3 levels of prevention
Primary, secondary, and tertiary
Primary prevention
A set of actions that aim to prevent disease or injury from occurring.
Ex. Condoms and pre-exposure vaccinations
Secondary prevention
A set of actions that aim to reduce the impact of a disease or injury by detecting and treating it early.
Ex. Screening programs such as mammography to detect breast cancer
Tertiary prevention
A set of actions that aim to reduce the impact of an ongoing illness or injury that has lasting effects.
Ex. For people who have had a stroke: Taking aspirin to prevent a second stroke from occurring
5 steps of the nursing process
Assessment, diagnosis, planning/outcomes, implementation, and evaluations
4 cognitive skills of the assessment process
Clinical thinking, clinical reasoning, clinical judgment, intuitive thinking
Clinical thinking
Purposeful and creative thinking aimed at problem-solving
Clinical reasoning
Identifies abnormal findings, risk factors, and health promotion and prevention behaviors
Clinical judgment
Decisions made based on information available
Intuitive thinking
“Gut feeling”
A patient presents at the ambulatory care clinic for complaints of an upper respiratory infection. While assessing this patient, the nurse needs to identify:
A) Physical assessment findings only
B) Normal from abnormal assessment findings
C) Basic anatomy and physiology
D) Diagnostic value
B) Health assessment is a skill to identify normal from abnormal findings. Nurses need to identify normal and abnormal variants that may indicate the patient has an upper respiratory infection.
What is the federal initiative that is a science-based framework updated every ten years by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which has goals and objectives for health promotion?
A) World Health Organization
B) Healthy People 2030
C) U.S. Preventative Services Task Force
D) Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Initiative
B) Healthy People 2030 identifies health and risk factors for disease and has goals and objectives for health promotion and disease prevention
A 34-year-old patient is about to deliver her first baby. Her husband appears to be supportive but appears worried and nervous. The patient has come to the hospital since her contractions are 8 minutes apart. She has been in labor for 8 hours and has a past medical history of high blood pressure. She states, “I never took prenatal classes and don’t know what to do.” What cognitive skill should you begin to implement?
A) Nursing Process
B) Nursing Assessment
C) Critical Thinking
D) Intuitive Thinking
C) Critical thinking is a problem-solving, reflective process that uses a process of purposeful and creative thinking about resolving problems.
A patient was recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and needs teaching about the importance of skin and foot care. This is an example of what level of health prevention?
A) Primary
B) Secondary
C) Tertiary
D) None of the above
C) Tertiary prevention encompasses the restoration of health after illness or disease has occurred. Skin care and foot care help prevent complications of diabetes.
4 objective assessment techniques
Inspection, auscultation, percussion, and palpation
Assessment order
Inspection -> palpation -> percussion -> auscultation
Inspection
To look and assess the physical aspects of the body, posture, appearance, and behavior
Inspection: 5 requirements
Comfortable room temperature, good natural lighting, PPE if necessary, draping to maintain modesty, and compare symmetry of body parts from left to right
Inspection: 7 characteristics assessed
Location, size, color, pattern, shape, odors, and symmetry
Palpation
Using the fingers and hands to assess
Palpation: Hand parts and purposes
Finger pads: Fine assessment, skin texture, shape, pulse, crepitus.
Dorsal (back) hand: Assess temperature.
Ulnar surface (ball) of the hand: Assess vibration, fremitus, thrills
Palpation: Equipment
Gloves, additional PPE (if needed)
Light palpation: Purpose
Feel for surface characteristics
Deep palpation: Purpose
Feel for deeper characteristics such as organs