Health assessment
Health assessment is a systematic, deliberative and interactive process by which nurses use critical thinking to collect,
validate, analyse and synthesize the collected information in order to make judgement about the health status and life
processes of individuals, families and communities.
Health assessment
• An essential nursing function that:
• provides foundation for quality nursing care and intervention
• helps to identify the strengths of the patient in promoting health
• helps to identify patient’s needs, clinical problems
• evaluate responses of the person to health problems and intervention
Nurse and health assessment
• An accurate and thorough health assessment reflects the knowledge and the skills of a nurse
• Is the first step to determine health status
Definition
Assessment is the deliberate and systematic collection of data to determine clients current and past health status,
functional status and to determine client’s present and coping pattern. Carpenito
Nursing assessment focus upon the client’s response to a health problem
Nursing diagnosis (NANDA)
A nursing diagnosis is a clinical judgment concerning human response to health conditions/life processes, or a
vulnerability for that response, by an individual, family, group, or community. A nursing diagnosis provides the basis
for the selection of nursing interventions to achieve outcomes for which the nurse has accountability.
Nursing diagnoses are developed based on data obtained during the nursing assessment and enable the nurse to
develop the care plan.
Purposes of assessment
1. To collect data pertinent to the patient’s health status
subjective/objective
2. To identify deviations from normal
3. To discover the patient’s strengths, limitations and coping resources
4. To pinpoint actual problems
5. To spot factors that place the patient at risk of health problems
6. To build rapport with patient and family