Nursing physical assessment for patient safety in general wards: reaching consensus on core skills

Douglas, Clint; Booker, RN Catriona; Fox, RN Robyn; Windsor, RN Carol; Osborne, Sonya; Gardner, RN Glenn

doi:10.1111/jocn.13201

Cited by 42 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 41 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Although physical assessments involving auscultation may be regarded as advanced competencies overseas, auscultation of the lung, abdomen, and heart is a common nursing practice in Japanese community hospitals. These techniques are frequently performed in intensive care units or at nursing homes, where nurses are independently involved in decision making . Basic nursing education and cultures differ worldwide, and the results of this study show that the implementation of techniques necessary to practice nursing also differs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Physical assessment by Japanese community hospital nurses compared to that performed overseas: A cross‐sectional study

Maejima¹,

Ohta²

2018

J of Gen and Family Med

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Japanese nurses may not be adequately trained to perform physical assessments compared to nurses overseas due to differences in accessibility to education; currently, research investigating this discrepancy is limited. This study investigated the current performance levels of Japanese community nurses in physical assessments and compared their performance to that of nurses overseas. Methods In this cross‐sectional study, we examined the practical application of physical assessments conducted by nurses at a Japanese community hospital. We used a questionnaire based on one used in a similar prior study conducted overseas. The results were also compared with the overseas data. A chi‐squared test and analysis of variance were used to analyze the variables in each question. Results We distributed the questionnaires to 171 nurses working in the hospital. The return rate was 97.6% (167 out of 171). There was no significant difference in the methods used to perform a physical assessment based on the number of years of experience. Compared to nurses overseas, Japanese community hospital nurses differed in one area of assessment: A physical assessment of the chest was more likely conducted via auscultation rather than inspection. Conclusions When Japanese community hospital nurses performed a physical assessment of patients, auscultation was more frequently implemented than inspection. This approach contrasts with nurses overseas, who were more likely to use inspection when performing physical assessment. Japanese community nurses should improve their skills related to inspection, as inspection is an important process in the recognition of early stages of emergency.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Physical assessment by Japanese community hospital nurses compared to that performed overseas: A cross‐sectional study

Maejima¹,

Ohta²

2018

J of Gen and Family Med

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This indicates that students with higher levels of knowledge about pressure injuries will be more likely to have a positive attitude towards pressure injury prevention. Although little is known about pressure injury content in curricula in Australian universities, inspecting skin integrity and inspecting and palpating for signs of pressure injury were named core physical assessment skills in a recent Australian delphi study (Douglas et al, 2016). These results indicate it is crucial educational strategies incorporate the full range of relevant information about factors influencing pressure injury, including shear.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Australian nursing students’ knowledge and attitudes towards pressure injury prevention: A cross-sectional study

Usher

Woods

Brown

et al. 2018

International Journal of Nursing Studies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Several authors cite students' inability to recognise appropriate cues when assessing patients (Cooper et al, ; Endacott et al, ). Importantly, it should be noted that the skills associated with conducting an appropriate postoperative assessment are core nursing skills (Douglas et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Situation awareness and the decision‐making processes of final‐year nursing students

Tower

Watson

Bourke

et al. 2019

Journal of Clinical Nursing

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Aims and objectives To investigate final‐year nursing students' use of situation awareness when making clinical decisions about patients' progress postsurgery. Background Making clinical decisions about patient care is a generic nursing competence, developed in preregistration nursing programmes and critical to providing safe patient care. Situation awareness is an important precursor to making decisions and is linked to improved clinical outcomes. However, there is evidence to suggest that nursing students feel inadequately prepared to make clinical decisions. Design Endsley's (Situation awareness analysis and measurement. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2000) 3‐level situation awareness framework was used to guide the study. Level 1 situation awareness is perception of information required to make a decision. Level 2 relates to comprehending the information. Level 3 situation awareness is projecting how this information will inform the future. Twelve final‐year nursing students were recruited to participate. Think‐aloud research method was used to capture students' decision‐making, followed by semi‐structured interviews. Data were analysed using an adapted protocol analysis and were encoded inductively. The COREQ checklist has been used in reporting the study. Results Students demonstrated level 1, 2 and 3 situation awareness when making clinical decisions. However, it was not demonstrated consistently and at times subsequent decision‐making was inappropriate. Three themes emerged: “systems approach to assessment of postoperative patients”; “policy drives practice”; and “deferring decisions to registered nurses”. Within the themes, students demonstrated differing levels of situation awareness. Conclusion Making safe clinical decisions is a paramount skill for nurses; however, student nurses are ill‐equipped to undertake this skill. Situation awareness is important in informing safe decision‐making, but students' use of situation awareness is variable. Cognitive apprenticeship, applied to supporting development of situation awareness, affords the opportunity to develop students' decision‐making. Relevance to clinical practice Clinical decision‐making is a generic competence for all registered nurses and imperative for safe practice. However, student nurses are unprepared to undertake this skill once registered.

show abstract

Nursing physical assessment for patient safety in general wards: reaching consensus on core skills

Abstract: Although further research is needed to refine the model, clinical application should promote systematic assessment and clinical reasoning at the bedside.

Cited by 42 publications

References 41 publications

Physical assessment by Japanese community hospital nurses compared to that performed overseas: A cross‐sectional study

Physical assessment by Japanese community hospital nurses compared to that performed overseas: A cross‐sectional study

Australian nursing students’ knowledge and attitudes towards pressure injury prevention: A cross-sectional study

Situation awareness and the decision‐making processes of final‐year nursing students

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About