Advanced Physical Health Assessment Skills

Running head: ADVANCED PHYSICAL HEALTH ASSESSMENT SKILLS
Advanced physical health assessment skills
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1ADVANCED PHYSICAL HEALTH ASSESSMENT SKILLS
An interview with a patient on health history draws many interpersonal skills and one has
to take time for reflecting on one’s own values, biases and assumptions to every encounter. Self-
reflection is a process that is continuation of professional development in clinical settings. This
imparts personal awareness while working with patients being one of the most rewarding patient
care aspects (Asselin and Fain 2013). In the following discussion, Gibb’s reflection cycle
provides an opportunity to reflect on my personal experience to work with a patient in labor for
data collection. The reflection will also reflect on the important communication aspects in
collecting data on patient history.
Description
During my placement, I was assigned on the maternity ward in the hospital to assist my
mentor as an emergency nurse. The nurse on the day shift was absent and my mentor asked me
to assist the patient, ABC. She was in pain and her husband was present in the ward. My mentor
tried to communicate and placate her however; she was anxious and had limited English
proficiency. Due to labor pain, she was looking worried and looked at her husband to comfort
her. However, her husband also did not understand English and was looking helpless. My mentor
assigned me with the patient, asked to communicate with her and get her medical history. As she
was in excruciating labor pain, it was extremely difficult for me to communicate with her and
fetch details. I was unable to comfort her and describe the process to the patient. It was getting
difficult for me to communicate with her in getting her medical history as she was gasping in
pain. I was unable to support her as was in immense amounts of pain and unique compassion that
was required to deal with her and as a result, I was unable to collect the necessary information
from her.

2ADVANCED PHYSICAL HEALTH ASSESSMENT SKILLS
Feelings
Initially, when I was assigned with this particular task, I was feeling privileged that I will
be working with patients through the most vulnerable and special experiences of her life. My
energy was captivating as there were waves of calm followed by surges of emergency and chaos
in labor and delivery. I was in extreme tension and stress and mixed feelings of joy.
At first instance, I was nervous as the patient was grimacing in extreme pain. I was
trembling with fear on how to support the patient and comfort her. I empathized with ABC and
her husband as they have limited English proficiency and communication was getting difficult
for me. She was worried about her baby’s wellbeing and was getting impatient, irritated with me
on asking questions. I could not help in that aspect and tried to build a good rapport with her. In
that particular situation, it was getting difficult for me to ask questions to the patient about her
past health history and course of pregnancy. I approached her again, but she was not willing to
answer and I felt that I left my mentor and myself down. However, I tried again and felt that
non-verbal communication with her during that time could be helpful in gathering the necessary
information from her. I listened and responded to her concerns and felt that she was convinced
by my gestures and touch.
After I touched and listened to her empathetically, I was able to connect to her to some
extent and communicate with her. I was standing close to her line of vision and maintained eye
contact and gradually she started responding to me. However, I felt that I could have dealt her
more empathetically and demonstrated effective communication skills in collecting data from
her. The incident was challenging for me as it encountered communication difficulties as one of
the biggest complaint while trying to interact with the patient in labor pain. I was feeling guilty

3ADVANCED PHYSICAL HEALTH ASSESSMENT SKILLS
that I failed to complete the task assigned to me and could not support the woman during her
most difficult situation.
Evaluation
After the incident, I felt that caring is reflected through a nurse’s communication skills
and I tried my best to communicate with the patient by exhibiting nonverbal communication
skills rather than communication skills. At first, I was unable to support my patient and develop
caring role so that they interact with me in providing their personal information. However,
gradually I gained the confidence to approach the woman again and tried to comfort her.
I think my approach lacked effective communication skills and I was unable to connect
with my patient at first instance. As stated by Kourkouta and Papathanasiou (2014) non-verbal
communication expressed by laboring women are essential cues that nurses should recognize in
order to provide appropriate care and gathering data history about their course of pregnancy. I
should have been more compassionate and warmth in my approach as it would have indulged my
patient to talk to me. I focused on technical aspects rather than the aspects of pain that made it
difficult for the patient to communicate with me about her past medical history and labor
progress.
According to Dahlberg and Aune (2013) communication (verbal and non-verbal) can
affect the birth outcome and satisfaction in mothers with their birth experience. I was unable to
communicate and comfort her that resulted in increased stressor during her labor pain. Another
study conducted by Negron et al. (2013) stated that during childbirth process, the type of
perceived support that a woman gets greatly affects her satisfaction. Empowerment of laboring
women by nurses can be achieved through maintenance of free flow of information considering