Student's Health Impact Assessment - Research Paper Example

Health Assessment Name Institution GOALS The main aim of the study is to help the student in employing both the cognitive and constructivism theories in acquiring significant techniques in carrying out of research, taking of patient’s history, running of physical examinations to patients, as well as, understanding different family structures. By the end of this unit, the student should be in a position to understand different cultural and bio-psycho-social issues that are linked to health assessment. A graduate student in nursing should be equipped with these skills for effective deliverance of services to his/her patients. OBJECTIVES The student should fully understand how to employ consultation skills to their patients. This requires the student to have the capacity to get the patient’s true story and the ability to know what set of questions to ask in such a situation. The study will also help the student in knowing when to ask these questions since asking the question in the middle of the patient’s story could limit what the patient intended to convey. At the end of the study, the student should know how to prepare the consultation room layout. This assists in perfect consulting. It assists in the establishment of good rapport with the patients; this includes good eye contact with the patient, the proximity between the patient and doctor, accessibility of notes or computers. The student should learn how express their opening greetings since this set the precedence for what follows. Once opening greetings are conducted in the right manner, it could help in inhibiting rapport since the patient in kept at ease. The study aims at sharpening the student’s eye contact, hand shakes and a show of interest with the patient. These gestures establish encouragement and trust, which results in open communication and honesty in the part of the patient. The study should also enhance the listening skills of the student. Improved listening skills will help the doctor to give their patients ample time to give their pre-constructed narrative, as opposed to interrupting the patient with questions. The application of this approach gives the doctor a perfect chance of understanding the nature of an illness. The study should equip the student with the knowledge of asking delineating, discriminating questions concerning the specified symptoms. This helps in the verification of the patient’s actual nature and giving sufficient information in support of reaching a diagnosis. At the end of this study, the student should be in a position to employ their body language, facial expression and verbal fluency. For patients who are not cooperative in narrating their story, the student ought to be skilled in getting the required information concerning their patient’s history of illness. The study should also help the student in understanding the kind of questions that will yield results. Employment of open questions is regarded as the gold standard since they are not suggestive of the expected answer. These questions help the doctor in getting specified information concerning patient’s symptoms. The study should equip the student with the necessary skill concerning the utilization of questions with options. Once the student is well versed with the utilization of questions to the patients, the questions with options are mostly employed once the doctor notices that the patient is not giving the intended information. The study should also make the student understand the dangers of using leading questions. The study should also assist the student in understanding about different family structures. The study should help the student understand that all families possess both the protective and the risk factors. Risk factors are the personal characteristics and life events, which threaten a family or child’s well-being. Once the student has this knowledge he/she will be better equipped in seeking the risk factors that could be causing the patient’s illness. Any family structure could possess the protective and risk factors given the specified family characteristics. Children from families where the parents are affected by violence and alcohol are likely to experience teenage pregnancies and mental health related issues. The study equips the student with knowledge on how cultural issues affect health assessment. All cultures possess a structure of health beliefs explaining illness causes, its treatment and the people involved in this process (Finley, Kristjansdottir, & Forgeron, 2009). For instance, Asians have many significant cultural beliefs that the students ought to be aware of. In this culture, the extended family possesses important influence where the oldest man in the family becomes the spokesperson and a decision maker. The honor and interest of the family in this community, are extremely significant than those of an individual. This means that, a doctor could prescribe a medication to an individual only to be rejected by the family member, leading to termination of medical consultation. The nurse should understand his/her patient’s cultural traditions. The nurse should be able to pay a closer attention to response unavailability, body language or anxiety expressions signaling the patient’s conflict. The student should learn how to utilize open-ended question to this patients in order to gain maximum information concerning their expectations. The student should learn how to remain nonjudgmental when a patient gives information that varies from what he/she believes. At the end of the study, the student should be able to deal with bio-psycho-social issues linked to health assessment. The student should employ this in finding a mind-body connection. PREREQUISITES Prior to the introduction of this topic, the teacher divided the students into a group of two. One student had to play the role of the doctor while the other became the patient. The student playing the doctor’s role had to examine the other and record his/her findings. Once the student was convinced that he/she had collected the necessary information, the role was reversed and the other student recorded the findings. This was meant to prepare the students on various techniques in taking of the patients’ history, conducting physical patient’s examinations and understanding varying family structures. LESSON DESCRIPTION Health assessment entails the process where the patient’s emotional, physical and mental well-being is checked prior and during the treatment. Once an assessment is carried out accurately, the treatment plan of the patient becomes successful and safe. In case of the older adults, the assessment offers them the opportunity of sharing their opinion in regards to the option of treatment utilized by the doctor. The information collected during the health assessment includes medical co-existing conditions. This condition could increase complications in a patient if not noted. Laboratory tests and physical examination are normally conducted in checking the patient’s general health. Health assessment also helps in checking the patient’s functional status. The doctor is capable of identifying whether the patient can function independently. This also includes the evaluation on the patient’s strength, walking speed and balance. The assessment helps the doctor in reviewing all the supplements and medication that a patient could be taking, which helps in identifying existing potential interaction with the prescribed treatment. The emotional status is also evaluated at this stage since existence of issues with mental health might interfere with making of treatment choices (Suther & Sandel, 2013). Health assessment helps the doctor in understanding how a patient feels in regards to treatment matter. For instance, older patient might not prefer having intensive treatment if the perceive that it might result in hospitalization or decrease their independence. The health assessment is later documented in the nursing records or the patient’s medical records. For effective assessment, various instruments have been developed in assisting the nurses the role of assessment. These involves the Barthel index, the independence index in daily activities, Crighton Royal scale for rating behavior, the questionnaires for general health, Clifton assessment procedure meant for the elderly and geriatric schedule for checking the mental health of a patient. The Braden scale assists the nurses in dealing with the risk of pressure ulcer development. The nurses could also utilize the GSC (Glasgow Coma Scale) in checking the degree of their patient’s consciousness. Activities The student where supposed to see and learn to use various instruments used by the nurses for effective health assessment. In doing this, the students had to be divided into a group of three were one should takes the role of nurse and utilizes these instruments. The correct reading of the instrument was taken. Once the student had gathered the necessary information the role was reversed, this continued until the entire group had learned how to utilize this instruments. Under the teacher’s guidance, the students where taught on how to record their findings on their nursing records on the electronic medical record. Purpose The correct utilization of these instruments would help the nurses when ruling out of possible illnesses. If these instruments are used wrongly, the patient might die since he/she will be treated for the wrong illness. For instance, the nurse reads the clinical thermometer wrongly; the patient could be prescribed of having fever while this could not be the case. Pulse, respiratory rate and blood pressure should be read accurately to avoid emergencies. This study is extremely unique since it is the first stage for the nursing process. This means that, any competent nurse should be capable of conducting an effective health assessment. The students are equipped with the knowledge of handling patients of different ages and identifying their illnesses. The arrangement of students into groups underscores the importance of precision and practical knowledge in this study. Sharpening of the student’s listening skills is vital in this study since its correct utilization helps the nurse in identifying the patient’s problem. The study helps the students in knowing what question to ask and those that they should avoid when conducting a health assessment to a patient. Understanding the family structures is extremely significant for a nurse. This will assist in the evaluation of a patient’s illness since the patient might not know that his/her illness originated from the family structure that he/she belongs. Once a nurse identifies this problem, he/she is better placed to make an informed conclusion. The student liked the study since the practical aspect of the student made them feel like real nurses. The student would ask many questions regarding the nursing instruments used. The students liked the study because they came to know the ‘do’ and ‘don’ts’ in nursing. The students acquired the necessary knowledge in dealing with different patients during health assessment. They also learned how to use questions with options in ‘pinning down’ a patient who is not cooperative in sharing the necessary information. The students also acquired knowledge in utilizing the nurse’s instruments and correct documentation of the reports obtained. Once the teacher had taught the students how to use the nurse’s instruments and the utilization of various health assessment components, the student where able to apply what the teacher had taught them in the group work. LESSON PROCEDURE In order to achieve the required results in this study, the students should actively participate in this study. This is effectively achieved by dividing the students into groups of three. Introduction The key objective of the study is to equip the students with the necessary skills in health assessment. This is done by assisting the students in the identification of the health assessment components. This includes carrying out of research, running of physical examinations and taking of patient’s history. The study also aims at understanding different family structures and identification of cultural and bio-psycho-social issues linked to health assessment. The practicality of the study held the students attention since they were used to theoretical aspect of various studies. The students’ participation in groups taking various roles; doctor and patient, sharpens the students creativity in assessing the fellow students. Introduction of nurse’s instruments in the study increased the students’ attention since they were eager to learn how the nurses use these instruments. This brought equilibrium between the study objectives and the interest of the student. Main Activity The study intends to equip the students with the necessary skills in conducting an effective health assessment. The students should be divided in a group of three students. Each student should tackle one component of health assessment. At the end of the lesson the group should have covered the patient’s history, social and psychological examination and physical examination. The student recording for a particular component should take the role of the nurse. Once he/she feels that the intended component has been exhausted the role is reversed. For a study covering the physical examination, the student is expected to either use the nurse’s instruments in measuring the signs or observe for the signs and symptoms. The technique employed by the student is inspection. Other vital signs that the students look after is temperature, pulse, respiratory rate and blood pressure. The student should record the observations obtained in the nurse’s record. The assessment should answer the following questions: 1. Does the patient have any observable sign and symptoms? 2. If yes, list them. 3. If no, which nursing instrument was used? 4. What was the reading of on the instrument? 5. What does the reading signify? 6. What is the remedy for the patients’ problem? In case of the student conducting the patient’s history, he/she is expected to build a rapport with his/her patient. The student should evaluate the overall status of their patient’s health. The cause of their patient’s disease, which includes the existing symptoms, illness management, the medical history of the patient; they should mention about the past illness or whether there exists hereditary illnesses in the family. The perception of the patient’s illnesses could be checked. The guiding question should be as follows: 1. Is the patient cooperative? 2. What is the status of the patient’s health? 3. What could be the cause of the patient’s illness? 4. How is the patient managing his/her illness? 5. What is suggested by the patient’s medical history? 6. Is there a hereditary disease in the patient’s family? 7. What is the patient’s perception on his/her illness? The third student in the group should conduct a social and psychological examination. The student should comment on the patient’s emotional and intellectual health. Here, the patient’s cognitive function is assessed; delusions and hallucinations are also checked (Gesouli-Voltyraki et al, 2012). The student should be in a position to measure the levels of concentration of the patient. The patient’s interests and hobbies are vital in constituting an assessment of the intellectual health. The student should inquire about the patient’s emotional health and how the patient counteracts these feelings. The patient’s beliefs and religion should be identified. The student should attempt to answer the following questions. 1. Does the patient experience delusions and hallucinations? 2. In a scale of 1 to 5, what is the concentration level of the patient? 3. What are the patient’s interests and hobbies? 4. What is the patient’s perception on his/her health? 5. What does the patient do to counteract his/her emotions? 6. What is the patient’s beliefs and religion? Conclusion In drawing the ideas together for the students, the teacher should carry out the same study with the whole class. The teacher will take the role of the nurse and attempt all the three components of health assessment. He/she will show the students all the possible outcomes that a nurse is expected to obtain from the patient with similar problem. In doing this, the student will be able to identify what they overlooked when conducting the same assessment. The teacher will also assist the student in ruling out possible illness in health assessment using nurse’s instruments. Follow up Lessons Each student should conduct the three components of health assessment on their own to test on their understanding of health assessment. Each student should write all the guiding questions for an assessment of family structures. Assessment The study on health assessment was a success. After answering the three questions in a group work situation and revising the same questions in class the students understood the key points that the nurses conducting the health assessment look for. Their competence in conducting the health assessment was clearly evident in tackling the assignment questions given in regards to possible questions in conducting an assessment on family structures. The student’s ability to choose the right questions in conducting their assessment on family structures meant that the objective of the study had been understood. References Finley, A. G., Kristjansdottir, O., & Forgeron, P. A. (2009). Cultural influences on the assessment of children's pain. Pain research & management: the journal of the canadian pain society , 14 (1), 33-37. Gesouli-Voltyraki et al (2012). Physiotherapy student's mental health assessment. Interscientific Health Care , 4 (2), 71-76. Suther, E., & Sandel, M. (2013). Health impact assessment. medicine and health Rhodes Island , 96 (7), 27. Read More