Advanced Clinical Assessment Skills
10.50
CPD
Hours
10.50
RCNA
Points
Event Type:
Duration:
Cost:
Relevant To:
Seminar
Two Days
$473.00
General Description
This interesting program uses two complex case scenarios to develop a nursing assessment challenge. Participants will be given progressive information during the program, about the health of two hypothetical people, You will have the opportunity to consider what tools to use in order to perform a high performance assessment. You will be guided in your clinical reasoning to plan appropriate care for these two scenarios. Come along to this interactive and highly practical learning experience.
Need for Program
As nurses are increasingly expected to work to the full extent of their scope of practice it is essential they have access to education that enables them to learn advanced nursing skills. There is a need for a program that offers nurses an opportunity to enhance their skills in regard to advanced clinical assessment and clinical reasoning. Nurses are required to obtain a minimum of 20 continuing professional development (CPD) hours, that relate to their context of practice, in order to comply with mandatory regulatory requirements.
Aims and Objectives
This program aims to offer nurses an opportunity to enhance and advance their nursing skills in regard to the assessment of people with complicated health presentations. A further aim is to offer nurses an opportunity to interact with a senior nurse clinician who will teach and demonstrate a range of nursing skills related to clinical assessment and clinical reasoning.
At the conclusion of this program it is anticipated that the nurse will be able to:
- Assess a person who presents with complex nursing needs and document findings using at least one assessment tool.
- Reflect on education and nursing experiences, so as to incorporate learning into practice and defend your clinical reasoning decision-making.
8.30am - Registration and enjoy a refreshing drink
9.00am - Introduction and Discussion of Aims and Objectives of the Course
9.30am - Case Scenario One
Mr Smith, is a 78 year old man who lives at home. His wife discovers him lying on the ground in his garden early in the morning. He is unrousable and there is blood on the concrete around his head. He is lying on his side. His wife becomes very distressed and calls a neighbour. You are a domiciliary nurse who is visiting a person who lives nearby and are called to assist. You will be incrementally provided with information about Mr Smith throughout the course of the two days. This will enable you to build on your assessment skills as you hypothetically care for him.
10.00am - Case Scenario Two
Mr Abboud is a 44 year old man who presents with right knee pain. He is known to staff in the department as he regularly presents with this complaint. He is using crutches, to mobilise, although previous knee x-rays performed in your department have not shown a cause for his pain. Whilst in the waiting room, he appears to be quite distressed. You will be incrementally provided with information about Mr Abboud throughout the course of the two days. This will enable you to build on your assessment skills as you hypothetically care for him.
Nb: Time permitting, participants' case examples will also be discussed.
10.30am - Morning Tea and Coffee
11.00am - Assessment Skills - And How to Further Develop Them
This general session will review the aim and purpose of nursing assessment and ask and debate the fundamental questions:
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What is the purpose of this assessment?
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What can be achieved from collecting this data?
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How reliable and objective is this data?
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Is this assessment one dimensional and too simplistic?
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What makes assessment advanced?
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Assessing Mr Smith and Mr Abboud
12.00am - Systems of Assessment
A review of a top-to-toe assessment and what we need to look for.
12.30pm - Lunch Break and Networking
1.30pm - Practical Session
This will be a skill-based session where you will practice listening to cardiac and breathing sounds, and it will include principles of holistic assessment.
2.20pm - A Review of Assessment Tools and Documentation
We will now review several commonly used and well-validated assessment tools that can guide the assessment process. They are not intended as checklists, but rather as guides to ensure you identify what is essential in order to competently plan your nursing care.
3.00pm - Afternoon Tea and Coffee
3.30pm - Selecting Appropriate Assessment Tools
This session will review which nursing assessment tools to use on Mr Smith and Mr Abboud and the reasons why. It will reveal why a 'one-size-fits-all- approach' will not deliver adequate assessment data and information. In this session you will practice documenting your findings.
4.15pm - Review of Day One and Close
9:00am - Day Two Begins
9.00am - Reflection and Clinical Reasoning
This first session of day two looks at the nature of clinical reasoning. The ability to hold many ideas at once, and then prioritise and direct decisions, is an advanced cerebral skill but is essential for clinical reasoning. We will discuss and debate how clinical reasoning relates to our two case scenarios.
10.30am - Morning Tea and Coffee
11.00am - Psychosocial Versus Physical Needs
Explore how the needs of the patient relate to assessment. Advanced clinical reasoning - a look at the skill set required for examining the psychosocial and physical aspects of care.
Relate back to the case study examples:
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What are the physical and psychosocial needs you can identify, how are they related?
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How can more astute clinical reasoning affect your assessment?
12.00pm - Scope of Practice
As you become more skilled at clinical reasoning, it becomes ever more tempting to diagnose disease. This challenging session will discuss where the boundary lies between nursing assessment and making a medical diagnosis. You will be encouraged to debate this very interesting 'grey' area of nursing and consider your scope of practice and the consequences of being a diagnostician.
12.30pm - Lunch Break
1.30pm - Practical Workshop
In this session you will practice neurological examination on a colleague. You will then relate this to your psychosocial findings. A Varied systems approache to examination will also be explored.
3.00pm - Afternoon Tea and Coffee
3.30pm - Discharge Planning for Case Scenarios
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What new skills are demonstrated?
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Outcomes of assessments and comparison with initial findings for both cases.
4.15pm - Wrap Up and Evaluations
Leanne Boase Leanne is currently employed as an Emergency Nurse Practitioner in private practice in Melbourne. She is an Executive member of the Australian College of Nurse Practitioners - Victorian Chapter, and a Branch Councillor for the Australian Nursing Federation - Vic Branch. Her qualifications include a Master of Nursing (Nurse Practitioner) and a Master of Health Science Education. Leanne has a love of learning, as well as, teaching. Her clinical skills are diverse and she regularly lectures on a range of health care topics. Leanne has a special interest in paediatric eczema and advanced practice skills.
Presenting in: WA, QLD, NSW, VIC, TAS,
