#90: Assess These Five Things with Every Patient Interaction

When you think about a nurse’s superpowers, you might picture someone performing CPR or rushing to open the airway of a patient in respiratory arrest. But the nurse’s real superpower is his or her ability to assess. It’s the watchful awareness of the nurse that catches subtle changes in patient condition that enable the team to intervene BEFORE the unthinkable happens.  In this podcast episode, I’m going to talk with you about the importance of those routine interactions and how they can provide you with a wealth of data about your patients. By assessing these five things with every patient contact, you can catch changes in patient condition even before your next head-to-toe assessment is due. When you develop a habit of using every patient interaction as an opportunity to assess, you become hypervigilant about your patient and begin to develop those rockstar assessment skills. ___________________ Full Transcript - Read the article and view references FREE CLASS - If all you've heard are nursing school horror stories, then you need this class! Join me in this on-demand session where I dispel all those nursing school myths and show you that YES...you can thrive in nursing school without it taking over your life! Clinical Success Pack - One of the best ways to fast-track your clinical learning is having the right tools. This pack includes report sheets, sheets to help you plan your day, a clinical debrief form, and a patient safety cheat sheet. Study Sesh - Change the way you study with this private podcast that includes dynamic audio formats that help you review and test your recall of important nursing concepts on-the-go. Free yourself from your desk with Study Sesh! 💕Did you love this episode? Please take a moment to follow or subscribe to the show so you never miss an episode! ___________________ The information, including but not limited to, audio, video, text, and graphics contained on this podcast are for educational purposes only. No content on this podcast is intended to guide nursing practice and does not supersede any individual healthcare provider's scope of practice or any nursing school curriculum. Additionally, no content on this podcast is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Straight a Nursing is a proud member of the Airwave Media Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices