Nursing Health Assessment

Health Assessment is an important process that identifies specific needs of a person, collecting subjective and objective data. It is a procedure that allows health professionals to assist in health promotion and risk reduction. As a novice nurse evaluating my patient through this assessment, I am able to use a problem- solving approaches that allows me as a novice nurse to identify my patient’s problems and potential risks my patient may encounter, as well as plan and evaluate a nursing care plan. Throughout this health assessment I am able to understand main concerns of my patient and support my patient with any health concerns they may have. Ultimately, this assessment will explore my patient’s current developmental stage and establishing
From this interview, I obtained the lifestyle of my patient. The patient, KF is sixty- nine years old male, married for 48 years and has 2 children; 2 boys. When looking at KF age, it’s important to understand that this patient is in the Integrity verse despair development stage. KF occupation consist of a retirement pension after working for thirty seven years as an administrator- commissioner getting his degree from Queens University. His retirement funding provides KF with an adequate amount of financial support to compensate for the lifestyle KF and his wife has. When referring to his own self-care, KF is aware of the negative behaviours that impact his health and what changes need to be made. Some of these negative behaviour are the consumption of alcohol as he consumes 2-3 drinks a day. Another negative behaviour is cigarette smoking, as he smokes one pack a day. KF was diagnosed with benign skin cancer at the age of 67 and has undergone nine cancer surgeries and radiation. These operations has lead KF to have skin removed from the right side of his head, leaving a 2cm by 2cm hole. He says, it feels as though his life has been set back and is not able to continue with the things he loves. Some impacts cancer has evoked is the reduced amount of required daily exercise due to being fatigue, as fatigue is the most common effect cancer survivor’s
As a novice nurse, I am able to focuses on specific health conditions that my patient may be at risk for. Firstly, knowing that my patient has undergone chemotherapy and radiation is essential in creating an effective teaching plan. It is also important to recommend protective measures to avoid cancer from reoccurring. Some preventive methods can consist of monthly tips such as eating more vegetables and fruits, eating less red meat, avoiding processed meat, eating foods with lots of fibre, limiting alcohol (less than 2 drinks a day for men) and limiting salt and sugar intake. Studies state that one- third of all cancers can be prevented by eating well, being active and maintaining a healthy body weight. KF is on the right track as his nutrition is fair and his BMI is a normal weight sitting at 19.8. Secondly, teaching my patient about smoking concession programs such as hypnosis, nicotine gum, nicotine patch, and Chantix. When teaching my patient about smoking concession it is vital in stating that the chance of getting cancer in the same site of developing a new cancer somewhere in the body can decreases when you stop smoking. By stating these health teaching the patient is able to weigh pros and cons of their daily life