Holistic Patient Assessment

Holistic patient assessment is utilised as a part of nursing to inform the nursing procedure and provide the fundamentals of patient care. Patient assessment is a essential skill used by nurses which provides the foundation for both on going and already existing patient care (Sonya Wallace ref)
In this essay I will be discussing the importance of holistic assessment in registered nursing and the importance of each holistic health aspects. Through holistic evaluation, the collection of objective and subjective data and therapeutic communication, registered nurses have the ability to offer improved skills of patient centred care. A holistic approach recognises and addresses six aspects including physical, psychological, social, developmental, spiritual and
Inspection is this first evaluation done in physical assessment and is a visual examination of the patient’s body including gait, movements and any abnormal smells. Palpations include the nurse using hands to feel certain textures, shapes, sizes, consistency, pulsations and to locate specific parts of the patients body, whilst also used to recognize areas patient states to be sore or tender. This procedure requires the nurse to enter the patient’s personal space therefore its important to maintain appropriate modesty whilst letting adequate exposure for examination.

Psychological

As adults grow older, they undergo changes in each body system. Therefore nurses must identify the expected anatomic and physiologic changes of older adults and understanding how these expected changes might alter the functioning of people in certain age groups. Some of the expected changes can be skin hair and nails, dermis losing collagen, elasticity and mass causing the wrinkly appearance. Nails become thicker and hard. The production of grey hair due to the decreased melanin and reduced