The Importance Of Health Assessment

Within the healthcare field, an abundance of patient assessments occur frequently throughout the day. However, one of the primary assessments to take place is the health assessment. This essay will define health assessment and detail its major components. The purpose of a health assessment will also be discussed from a nursing perspective. In addition to this, the essay will evaluate how a health assessment would be conducted in two different settings. The two settings include; the assessment of a child in a general practice setting and the assessment of an elderly person in an aged care setting. First, health assessment must be defined.

Health assessment can be defined as an interactive process between nurse and patient to gain information

Achieving this information from the patient will allow the nurse to provide practitioners with the foundation for clinical decision making and implementing an appropriate health intervention. There are two main aspects of the health assessment process used to gain this information; the patient interview and physical examination (Weber & Kelley, 2014). The patient interview is a meeting between nurse and patient to discuss the patients’ health history. During the interview, the nurse will gather subjective data about the patient’s biographical details, reason for pursuing care, current health concerns, past health conditions, family history of illness and any present symptoms. The second aspect of the health assessment process is the physical examination. This component of health assessment allows the

For example, performing a health assessment on a child in a community health setting would require a significantly different approach than when performing one on an elderly patient in a nursing home. For example, when conducting a health assessment for an elderly person moving into a nursing home, the assessment process would be quite extensive as there are vast range of health issues that must be addressed. For example, their continence, mobility, cognition and mood must be assessed (Australian Government Department of Health, 2014). This is because if they are being admitted into a nursing home, the level of care or independence that they require must be determined. In addition to this, due to the age of the patient, nurses must inquire during the health interview if the patient has a history of smoking, alcohol consumption and illicit drug use. On the other hand, for a child in a general practice, health issues such as physical development, behavioral and mental development, teething, sleeping patterns and diet should be considered in the health assessment. Also, children below the age of 14 may have to have a parent or caregiver speak on their behalf in order to provide accurate information about the childs health status (New South Wales Government Ministry of Health, 2013). Unlike