Areas Nurses Need To Consider Under Focused Nursing Assessment
Focused assessments are conducted by healthcare professionals in response to specific health problems of the individual patient which the assessor determines requires additional examination of one or more body systems. From the various analysis reports, blogs, and articles it has been observed that Focused respiratory system assessment generally consists of questioning and considering an interview, a conversation where the patient who has any signs of serious health issues as well as symptoms of pulmonary diseases, such as shortness of breath, coughing as well as gathering subjective information about the patient’s history of smoking, gathering information about the patient’s and their family’s medical history of pulmonary disease (Doyle, and McCutcheon, 2015). Also evaluated are objective data.
Checklist that is part of the focused assessment includes:
Concerns for safety
Wash your hands.
For contact precautions, check the room
Tell the patient who you are.
Using two patient identifiers, confirm the patient’s identity.
To the patient: Describe the procedure.
In your evaluation, be logical and methodical.
Utilize effective techniques for questioning and listening.
Steps under Focused assessment include,
Ask specific questions about smoking, environmental exposures, and a person’s history of respiratory illness.
Ask pertinent questions about chest pain when breathing, previous medical history, fever, chills, and coughing up sputum. Medication and therapy as needed
Inspect:
Check patient’s frequency to breathe and use the auxiliary muscles the chest’s design and symmetry
Rate, depth, and rhythm of breathing for one minute
Lips, face, hands and feet are all skin tones.
Check whether O2 saturation is at accurate level
Check the lungs’ (posterior and anterior) auscultation for breathing noises and other unexpected sounds.
Documentation of the assessment outcomes and associated health issues in accordance with agency policy.