The Holistic Exam: Physical Assessment
RN PCCN
The Holistic Exam
NU333 Physical Assessment
Kaplan University
The Holistic Exam A complete and throughout physical exam is not complete without assessing the body, mind and spirit of a patient. RNs and physicians need to be able to understand all the factors that make up our patient’s holistic health. Factors such as living situation, life cycle stage, stress, understanding cultural components, mental status… the list goes on and on. Without having a solid understanding of a patient holistic health will only give care givers a small piece of the overall picture. A good holistic exam utilizes skills not always taught in schools or books. A good examiner must use skills like observation, listening and empathy. …show more content…
Our patients need to comfortable in order to heal. I like to ask my patients “what kinds of cultural or spiritual things will impact your care?” I give examples such as; diet, praying, chaplain visits, gender of their nurse (if possible). However “culture is a complex whole in which each part is related to every other part” (Jarvis, p. 14, 2012), within each culture are subcultures so care givers have to be willing to learn new things all the time. As examiners and care givers we need to listen to our patients and observant about how they go about things to be culturally competent.
Working in the cardiac field I always ask about stress. Lewis, Heitkemper, Dirksen, O’Brien, Bucher (2007) write “stress occurs when individuals perceive that they cannot adequately cope with the demands being made on them or with threats to their wellbeing.” Examiners should be asking questions about stress such as: where does it come from, how it effects them and how do they deal with stress. We should be assessing their coping skills as well, while encouraging our patients to eat health and exercise
The Holistic Exam
NU333 Physical Assessment
Kaplan University
The Holistic Exam A complete and throughout physical exam is not complete without assessing the body, mind and spirit of a patient. RNs and physicians need to be able to understand all the factors that make up our patient’s holistic health. Factors such as living situation, life cycle stage, stress, understanding cultural components, mental status… the list goes on and on. Without having a solid understanding of a patient holistic health will only give care givers a small piece of the overall picture. A good holistic exam utilizes skills not always taught in schools or books. A good examiner must use skills like observation, listening and empathy. …show more content…
Our patients need to comfortable in order to heal. I like to ask my patients “what kinds of cultural or spiritual things will impact your care?” I give examples such as; diet, praying, chaplain visits, gender of their nurse (if possible). However “culture is a complex whole in which each part is related to every other part” (Jarvis, p. 14, 2012), within each culture are subcultures so care givers have to be willing to learn new things all the time. As examiners and care givers we need to listen to our patients and observant about how they go about things to be culturally competent.
Working in the cardiac field I always ask about stress. Lewis, Heitkemper, Dirksen, O’Brien, Bucher (2007) write “stress occurs when individuals perceive that they cannot adequately cope with the demands being made on them or with threats to their wellbeing.” Examiners should be asking questions about stress such as: where does it come from, how it effects them and how do they deal with stress. We should be assessing their coping skills as well, while encouraging our patients to eat health and exercise