Functional Assessment of the Pregnant Woman and the Older Adult

Functional Assessment of the Pregnant Woman and the Older Adult Functional Assessment of the Pregnant Woman and the Older Adult Respond to Ivette using 3 references. Physical Assessment Comparison ORDER NOW FOR CUSTOMIZED AND ORIGINAL ESSAY PAPERS The physical assessment or examination forms the first step that every nurse must perform when the patients come into the hospital unit. Physical assessment is a systematic procedure that involves conducting a head-to-toe examination with various techniques such as inspection, palpation, auscultation, and percussion (Jarvis, 2019). The nurse also obtains relevant patient information that aids in informing the type of patient care by asking relevant questions regarding their family, medical, social, and lifestyle health history. When conducting assessments, adults, infants, young children, and adolescents require different approaches; hence, they should be treated differently to understand each group’s specific needs. Traditionally, the first step of a physical assessment starts with collecting the patient’s subjective and objective data. The nurse obtains information for the adults and adolescents by asking relevant questions concerning the chief complaints and uses observation skills to understand their current situation to fulfill this part of the assessment. On the other hand, the parents or caregivers of the young children and infants act as historians and provide answers to the questions being asked regarding their health status (Jarvis, 2019). Often the young children and infants cannot provide any information regarding their immunization history, developmental milestones, or birth history that is crucial in the provision of care and informing the appropriate treatment modality. During the assessment procedure, the patient’s position varies between the adults, infants, young children, and adolescents. For the adults and adolescents, during the beginning of the assessment, they maintain an upright position and may switch the position depending on the instructions (Jarvis, 2019). The infants and young children lie in a supine position and need the nurse or their parent and caregiver to turn in different positions depending on the assessed area. During the assessment procedure, the nurse uses different communication strategies among adults, infants, young children, and adolescents to obtain meaningful information regarding the patient’s health status and enhance patient engagement. For young children, the nurse needs to make use of effective communication skills during the physical examination. For a child, the nurse must speak slowly and in simple vocabulary to enhance understanding. The child should be allowed to hold the assessment tools to strengthen cooperativeness and make the assessment procedure smooth. The nurse also finds a way to engage the child by employing toys and games to grab their attention. This is quite different from the adults and the adolescents, as they only need to consent to the procedure and be explained the importance of the physical assessment. Even though the physical assessment of adults, infants, young children, and adolescents vary in their approaches, they share a few similarities. One primary similarity shared between these groups is the assessment technique; it follows a systematic order beginning with inspection, palpation, percussion, and auscultation (Jarvis, 2019). This method allows the nurse to observe and note any abnormal findings and plan for appropriate interventions. Every individual, regardless of age, is accorded the right to privacy during the physical examination and informed consent obtained before beginning the procedure. Therefore, the nurse must know how to handle each age group appropriately, as they all have different needs. Question Two Difference between the Functional Assessment of the Pregnant Woman and the Older Adult. The assessment of both the pregnant and older adult forms a significant part as it aids in planning appropriate care and treatment of the individual. These two populations are both treated as fragile populations as they require comprehensive care for successful and optimal health outcomes; hence the nurse should conduct a proper functional assessment. For a pregnant woman, the nurse is interested in obtaining information regarding her gynecological, obstetric, menstrual, and current pregnancy to plan the best care to enhance safe pregnancy. On the other hand, the older adult’s functional assessment aims to evaluate the individual’s physical health, mental well-being, environmental safety concerns, and independence status. It thus presents a multidimensional structure of assessment. According to Jarvis (2019), the pregnant woman’s physical assessment follows a systematic procedure beginning with the collection of the comprehensive health history of the patient. It is then followed by the performance of the actual physical examination that follows the inspection, palpation, percussion, and auscultation technique to evaluate the status of the mother and that of the fetus. The nurse is interested in differentiating the normal from abnormal findings to inform the care and treatment plan. On the other hand, the functional assessment of the older adult targets evaluates the individual’s independence status by following two systematic procedures. In older adults, the nurse conducts the assessment by asking questions pertaining to the individual’s ability to conduct self-care activities or daily living activities. The nurse also observes the older adult’s functional ability to carry out the tasks they claim they can. This helps in informing the plan of care and enhancing functional independence among older adults. Answer preview to difference between the Functional Assessment of the Pregnant Woman and the Older Adult Get a 10 % discount on an order above $ 100 Use the following coupon code : NURSING10