A head-to-toe assessment is a physical examination or health assessment, and it is one of the many important components of understanding a patient’s needs and problems. This assessment is performed during every shift and sometimes multiple times to determine if there have been any changes in your patient’s status. We've put together a step-by-step guide to what happens in a nursing head-to-toe assessment and how nurses should understand the physical, emotional and mental aspects of someone’s body systems.