Posted: March 21st, 2022

Discussion: A nurse perform a HEENT

Discussion: A nurse perform a HEENT

After checking a patient’s vital signs as the first part of a general physical examination, nurses may perform a HEENT (head, eyes, ears, nose, and throat) exam. This assessment requires the use of specific devices, such as an otoscope or tongue depressor, which help nurse practitioners gather important information about the patient’s state of health. This can eventually lay the foundation for the initial development of a patient’s care strategy. As Bickley (2017), even though a HEENT examination is formulated by objective findings, the subjective statements from the patient are the important building blocks in making those objective findings connect. Some challenges I might anticipate in completing this assessment is the lack of confidence I may exude when performing this assessment on my patients and the patient will be able to pick up my energy vibes. Another challenge is the heavy reliance on technology and not on manual skills when the diagnostic tools become defective or inoperable. Another challenge faced is the lack of nurse leaders or role models that encourages the use of good assessment on patients. One difference I might anticipate when assessing patients across the lifespan is the difference in the amount of time for each unique patient age group. For example, the time spent on assessment with a teenager it will vary when compared to a toddler, child, adult or a geriatric patient. Some scholarly articles to refer to help in the performance for this assessment is from researchers Alamri & Almazan (2018) noted that continuous exposure to practice assessing patients, with enhancing the quality of planning and promotion of the provider could develop necessary skills. In addition, increasing self-confidence is vital to assess the patient’s health status effectively and minimize the barriers to performing the physical assessment (Douglas,Windsor,Lewis, 2015). Reference

Alamri, M. S., & Almazan, J. U. (2018). Barriers of physical assessment skills among nursing students in Arab Peninsula. International journal of health sciences, 12(3), 58–66. Bickley, L. (2017). Bates’ guide to physical examination and history taking (12th ed.). New York: Lippincott,Williams & Wilkins. Douglas, C., Windsor, C., & Lewis, P. (2015). Too much knowledge for a nurse? Use of physical assessment by final-semester nursing students. Nursing & health sciences, 17(4), 492–499. https://doi.org/10.1111/nhs.12223

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