NR 305 Week 2 Discussion – Assessment for Health Promotion
I perform a couple of different types of assessments depending on what floor I am working on at the time of my shift. I can assist mostly in the following areas med- surg/oncology, ER triage, employee health, or community-based outreach for the VA. I do a lot of problem-based [focused] / emergency-type assessments in med-surg/oncology and ER triage. I am constantly watching vital signs, setting up x-rays/ct scans and other diagnostic testing, assisting in diagnosis and treatments, and trying to stabilize or keep stable the veterans I help take care of when I am in ER triage or on the med-surg/oncology floor. When I am helping in employee health and community outreach, it is more of an initial type of assessment where I am assisting in determining the nature of the veteran’s issue at the time. Here I am helping to obtain medical history, doing physical exams, psychosocial assessments, vital signs, and other information from the veteran based on their opinion, judgment, feelings, or points of view. I also double-check, so to speak, the subjective things they tell me with the objective stuff I have found at this point. This sort of opens the way for other, more focused assessments by the teams or staff nursing in setting the stage for their care at the VA hospital in which I work.
One example, I had just taken over my group of veterans starting my shift. I went and made my initial rounds with the nurse I was turning over from with the bedside report. At this time, we had a female veteran who was admitted for abdominal cramping, who stated she was having really bad headaches as she had never had before. Furthermore, after speaking with her, I found her headaches were light-sensitive in nature, as well as nausea and ringing in her ears, and her vision was doubled and blurred. Looking back on her recent history that I had written on my brain sheet, I saw she had a recent spinal pain pump removal. It was at this point I asked if I could take a look at her backside and found she was leaking fluid from her old pump site on her lower back. We were able to upgrade her care and get this addressed adequately.
NR 305 Week 2 Discussion – Assessment for Health Promotion
The patient population I take care of in my setting is specifically veterans. Male or female veterans, they are unique, amazing, and unlike any other at times. Most veterans have done more in their career, short or longer, than any other, like them being non-veteran will do in a lifetime. When we obtain an accurate health history and physical assessment, we have to consider all the regular areas like current and past health status, disease process, and medical/surgical nursing care plan. But we also look at military service history in detail, like what they did in the service with what branch, where they have been, military-type/style trauma, exposure to what, where, and when, whether it was chemical/physical/mental or unspecified otherwise. A lot of people do not know is we also care for a wide range of federal employees as well as employees of the US Postal Service and such. I enjoy working as a veteran who is a nurse taking care of other veterans. When I meet them while taking care of them, we already have that instant bond or connection. The veterans already know and understand that I will be their best veteran advocate from when I step on the floor to the time I step off the floor at the end of my shift.
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Question 
NR 305 Week 2 Discussion – Assessment for Health Promotion
Paragraph One: Briefly describe the type(s) of nursing health assessments you commonly perform.
Explain how your nursing health assessments are focused or comprehensive. Provide examples of key subjective and objective data collected by nurses in this setting.