This reflective essay focuses on my learning development from performing a health assessment on food preparation and IADL’s, including vital signs. In nursing, a detailed health assessment is crucial in forming care plans, making a diagnosis and observing progress which is important to the patient (Gamble and Brennan, 2006). The health assessment indicated I can communicate well as the interview questions I had developed ensured I received all the data I required which I documented as part of the assessment. My patient remained relaxed and open, and a therapeutic relationship between myself, as the nurse, and the patient was developed.
However, the areas I could improve on would focus on being able to ask additional questions that relate to the assessment (i. e. open-ended questions) and being able to explain any question
...or given information to the patient needed. This is important to the patients understanding of health care as stated by Dorothy Dunn (2010, p. 12), ‘’Nurses must help their patients understand and act on health care information, and patients must ask questions when they are unsure or unclear about health care instructions. ’ It’s important to always ask the patient if they have any queries or are unsure of something before they leave our care.
Overall, I believe I performed the health assessment to the best of my competencies. This experience has highlighted the difficulties that may be encountered in communicating and gaining valid information which I will be aware of in future practice. Improving on my current knowledge and skills will come with experience. However, I will also research these areas in my current textbooks and relevant websites
to find the correct method. My reflective outcomes were developed by answering some of the questions provided by Debbie Parker (2010, p. 1), helping highlight the main issues in this particular assessment.
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