Nursing Assessment

This document describes a nursing student's experience with a clinical assessment in a laboratory setting. The student reflects on their performance, evaluates their strengths and weaknesses, and discusses the importance of effective communication and aseptic technique. The document concludes with an action plan for improvement.

Running head: NURSING ASSESSMENT
Nursing assessment
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author’s note

1NURSING ASSESSMENT
Description:
I had my clinical practical assessment in the clinical practice unit laboratories at Australian
Catholic University. It was on 3rd of April 2019. I along with my classmates were there to learn and
practice our different clinical assessments which included measuring vital signs like blood Pressure,
checking temperature, pulse Rate and respiration Rate. Our tutor demonstrated use the methods to
comprehensively assess vital signs following aseptic technique, which is hand washing before and
after touching every patient. Groups of two were formed to practice these skills and after
completing one task, our activities were swapped to expand our skills in assessment. I and my
partner got the activity of conducting clinical assessment related to measurement of blood Pressure.
I was the first to volunteer to measure blood pressure of my partner. As I started my assessment, I
forgot few things such as explaining patient what I am going to do and hand washing after touching
patient.
Feelings:
At first I was nervous and doubtful as if I will be able to perform correctly or not. Somewhere
I was stressed as well because it was my first experience of measuring blood pressure and I was little
confused with the normal and abnormal range of blood pressure. After I completed my clinical
assessment I felt quiet embarrassed, as well as frustrated because I forgot to explain the procedure
to my patient which is very important as effective communication helps to respect persons dignity,
cultures ,values, beliefs and rights(NMBA, 2016, P. 3). I also felt sad that I forgot small things like
handwashing after touching patient which is very important in health professional to prevent spread
of infections from one person to another. Every time as a nurse we need to ensure that all nursing
guidelines , standards, regulations and legislations to be carried out to prevent from cross infection
between patient and health care professional.
Evaluation:
In this clinical assessment I experienced a lot of things which was good as well as bad. My
good experienced was I learned how to measure blood pressure correctly. This assessment helped
me to increase my knowledge and skill levels in relation to conducting comprehensive nursing
assessment of patient as per NMBA registered nurse standards of practice (NMBA, 2016). The good
thing I did on this assessment is introducing myself to patient, hand washing before starting
procedure, preparing equipment’s which are sphygmomanometer and stethoscope used in this
procedure to measure blood pressure and lastly thanking patient for her time. The things which
didn’t go well was as I mentioned before was that I forgot to explain patient about the procedure
before starting the blood pressure assessment. Hence, I engaged in ineffective communication
process and this could affect patient’s right to privacy, dignity and cultural beliefs. The bad
experience I had was forgetting to carry aseptic techniques such as handwashing after touching
patient. Whenever we are dealing with patient or performing any assessment we need to follow safe
quality practice to achieve goals and outcomes based on needs of patient.
Analysis:
While reflecting on each component of my activity during blood pressure assessment, I can
say that not explaining the patient about the procedure was a limitation of my clinical assessment
activity. According to the ANSAT behavioural cues, I had the responsibility to engage in therapeutic

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and professional relationship with patient by introducing myself to the patient, listening to the
patient and providing clear instructions in all activities using range of communication strategies
(ANSAT 2016). However, I failed to give clear instructions to patient. I think my nervousness was the
reason behind missing this vital activity. This might lead to patient dissatisfaction with care as well as
lack of cooperation from the patient during the activity. Vermeir et al. (2015) explains that poor
communication in health care practice can lead to various negative outcomes such as patient
dissatisfaction, discontinuity of care and inefficient use of health care resources. Hence, my
inattentiveness in this area is a weakness of my assessment activity.
Another thing that went wrong during blood pressure assessment was that I failed to wash
my hands after conducting blood pressure assessment. This happened because it was my first
experience of measuring blood pressure of patient and despite my willingness to complete all
activities as described by my tutor, my forgetfulness and nervousness resulted in my failure to
complete aseptic technique during the assessment. This violates the behavioural cue for
comprehensively conducting assessment because according to this cue, it was necessary to
demonstrate sensitive and appropriate physical techniques during the assessment process (ANSAT
2016). However, I missed the physical technique of aseptic practice during blood pressure
measurement. Gonzalez and Kardong-Edgren (2017) argues that aseptic technique is necessary not
only during surgery, following aseptic technique during all clinical procedure before and after coming
in contact with patient is vital to prevent transmission of infection and control infectious disease in
clinical setting.
Conclusion:
While looking back at my skills of blood pressure assessment, I have learnt that completing
all physical technique is vital for completing any clinical assessment. Although missing aseptic
technique may not harm patient, however it can create safety issues for me. Hence, after this
experience, I have learnt never to miss any aseptic technique during nursing procedure. This will
help me to minimise any chance of infectious disease in hospital setting. In relation to the mistake of
not providing information to patient about the procedure before conducting the blood pressure
measurement, I have learn that I need to develop my therapeutic and communication skills so that I
can communicate vital information to patient despite cultural and language differences. Kourkouta
and Papathanasiou (2014) supports good communication between nurse and patient involves
proper exchange of information, thoughts and feelings among patient. This will help to provide high
quality nursing care.
Action plan
Based on the lessons learnt after completing a blood pressure assessment for patient, I have
identified many weaknesses in comprehensively conducting assessments in clinical practice. To
improve my skills in this area, I plan to improve my communication skills and learn more about
accurate analysis of assessment data. Training in this area will reduce my confusion regarding
assessment results for blood pressure and any other vital signs.

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References:
ANSAT (2016). ANSAT 2016 Behavioral cues. Retrieved from:
https://www.cdu.edu.au/sites/default/files/health/docs/ansat_behavioural_cues.pdf
Gonzalez, L., & Kardong-Edgren, S. (2017). Deliberate practice for mastery learning in nursing. Clinical
Simulation in Nursing, 13(1), 10-14.
Kourkouta, L., & Papathanasiou, I. V. (2014). Communication in nursing practice. Materia socio-
medica, 26(1), 65.
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (2016). Registered Nurse Standards of Practice. Retrieved from:
https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines-Statements/Professional-standards/
registered-nurse-standards-for-practice.aspx
Vermeir, P., Vandijck, D., Degroote, S., Peleman, R., Verhaeghe, R., Mortier, E., ... & Vogelaers, D. (2015).
Communication in healthcare: a narrative review of the literature and practical
recommendations. International journal of clinical practice, 69(11), 1257-1267.