This interactive seminar will teach you how to clinically assess a person to in order to achieve best-practice nursing care.
This program provides invaluable information about primary and secondary assessment of the respiratory, cardiac and neurological systems. You will learn how to document your assessment findings correctly as documentation guidelines are an integral part of this educational program. You will also learn many tips to assist you to make a quick assessment when a person is seriously unwell and comes into your care.
An important fundamental update for all nurses who have not had formal education on this topic in the past 12 months. This program is capped at 40 participants. To ensure your place please book early.
Need for Program
Clinical assessment is a core nursing function and the means by which nurses commence the process of care planning. It enables nurses to docuemnt their observations, guide and measure their care. It is essential that nurese remain well skilled in performing this procedure, and have access to up-to-date mentoring from expert clinical nurses.
Nurses are required to obtain a minimum of 20 continuing professional development (CPD) hours each year, that relate to their context of practice, in order to comply with mandatory regulatory requirements.
Aims and Objectives
The aim of this seminar is to offer all nurses an opportunity to update their clinical assessment skills. There will be a particular focus on certain major body systems. Part of this program will focus on skills to critically analyse assessment data, for use in the development of a meaningful care plan.
This two day seminar will enable participants to:
Prepare a person physically and psychosocially for a clinical assessment.
State the importance of accurate and detailed data collection including a demonstrated knowledge of the significance of documentation and information sharing.
Identify and review the normal anatomy and physiology of all systems covered and be cognisant of common symptoms associated with several diseases of these systems.
Have knowledge of the relative merit and correct use of some assessment too.
Day 1
Day 2
Educators
Please note the Brisbane program for 19-20 April is booked out. New dates are now available: 28-29 May 2012.
8.30am - Registration and Refreshments
9.00am - Cornerstones of Nursing Care - Clinical Assessment
This introductory session will highlight the importance of the holistic nature of nursing assessment. Clinical assessment is acknowledged as a core nurinsg skill, which, when used as a baseline tool, is the key to the development of an effective care plan.
In this session you will reflect on the purpose of clinical assessments and how they contribute to your professinal care-giving.
Reflect on and focus on the goal and function of a clinical nursing assessment
Take time to review the nursing process and reconsider the following questions:
Should a clinical nursing assessment be performed on all patients?
What data should be sourced prior, during and after a clinical assessment?
Top-to-toe - the clinical interview - how to ensure the interview is reliable, appropriate and consider who should be included?
Tips on documentation
10:00am - Use of Assessment Tools
There are a range of instruments and tools that can be used to assist nurses to perform a clinical assessment. This short sesion will briefly look at the purpose of tools and where their value lies in a clinical assessment.
How to select an assessment tool
How to use a tool when perfoming an assessment
Documentation tips
10.30am - Morning Tea and Coffee
11:00am - A Breath of Air - Assessment of the Respiratory System in Health
The main purpose of respiratory assessment is to ascertain how well the gases of oxygen and carbon dioxide are being exchanged.
This session will review and teach you the underlying principless of respiratory assessment. At the conclusion of the session, you will have time to practice listening to normal respirations.
Session One: Healthy respirations
Review of the normal anatomy and physiology of the respiratory system.
What factors can distort healthy lung function e.g. obesity?
How to perform a systematic assessment of the respiratory system.
Nurses should listen to as many healthy chest sounds as possible. There will now be a demonstration and practice of the correct use of the stethoscope and an opportunity to listen to healthy breath sounds.
Stethoscopes provided or you can bring your own for this session.
12.45pm - Lunch Break and Networking
1.45pm - Assessment of the Respiratory System - in Disease States
This session will now focus on the diseases of the respiratory system and thier clinical presentation
Session Two: Abnormal respirations
In this session, you will consider what happens to the 'look' of a person with certain respiratory diseases and why palpation and the sound of respirations on auscultation, changes.
Correct use of related medical terminology and how to correctly document your findings
Common abnormal findings and why they occur
Examining sputum
3.00pm - Afternoon Tea and Coffee
3.30pm - Cardiac Assessment Introduction
Now that we have refreshed our knowledge of the respiratory system, it is time to move to the heart.
This short session will review the aims and purpose of cardiac assessment and in particular, set the scene for the assessments that will be discussed on day two.
Review of normal anatomy and physiology of the cardiac system
Discussion of key aspects of healthy heart functioning
4.15pm - Close of Day One of Seminar
Start of Day Two
9.00am - Things that go 'BUMP' in the Night? - Cardiac Assessment
Heart disease is increasingly common in our society. This is partly due to the ageing of the population, partly due to the lifestyle issues and also, the relationship between cardiac disease and other chronic illnesses e.g. diabetes.
In this session, you will refresh your knowledge of the underlying principles of performing a cardiac assessment.
What do your first observations tell you?
How to perform a systematic assessment of heart function.
Demonstrate and practice of the correct use of the stethoscope when listening for heart sounds.
Learn what a healthy heart should sound like.
This will include skills supervision
10.30am - Morning Tea and Coffee
11:00am - 'Lub-Dub' - Documentation of Cardiac Assessment
In this session, you will revise cardiac terminology to assist you with your documentation. As you learn the terminology, you will be able to identify a range of cardiac malfunctions.
How to correctly document the normal and abnormal results of your assessment.
What is meant by the following terms:
Murmur.
Mid-systolic click.
Pericardial friction rub?
11:45am - Neurological Assessment - Window to the Soul?
Performing a rapid, effective neurological assessment can be life saving. With the advent of ever more sophisticated brain-imaging tools, we are now able to understand more about brain funciton. This session will update you on the normal anatomy and physiology of the neurological system.
12.30pm - Lunch Break and Browse the Book Display
1:30pm - Neuro Assessment - Using a Glasgow Coma Scale etc.
Recording a neurological assessment needs to demonstrate objective reasoning. For many years, the Glasgow Coma Scale has been used as a tool to provide a framework to achieve this result.
In this session, you will systematically review the elements of the scale, and consider their implications in regard to neurological function.
Review of elements of the Glasgow Coma Scale
A demonstration of some specific neurological assessments
Interpretation of results - a look at what the score is really telling you
What other tools exist that can assist you to perform this complex assessment?
3.00pm - Afternoon Tea and Coffee
3.30pm - Bringing the Clinical Picture Together
This final short session will enable participants to discuss how to assimilate the data gained from the assessment so that it can be used for clinical decision making purposes.
4.00pm - Review of Objectives of Program
4.15pm - Close of Seminar and Evaluations
Kay Appleton
Nurse Teacher in a TAFE Diploma of Nursing program. Concurrent with this work, she regularly teaches critical care skills as part of the team at Rural Emergency Care Consultants and Heather Schubert & Associates and she is a Clinical Teacher/Facilitator at the University of Sth. Aust for undergraduate nurses and Overseas RNs. Kay has a high level of expertise in the skills required for Basic & Advanced Life Support. Further, she is an active member of the Australian College of Critical Care Nurses.
Presenting in: WA, QLD, SA,
Donna McLean
Donna has experience in both medical and surgical nursing including spinal injury nursing. She has previously lectured for a number of years in both undergraduate and post graduate nursing and she currently works as a registered nurse in an emergency department, as she has done for the last 10 years as well as an educator in a tertiary referral hospital in Brisbane.
Presenting in: QLD, NSW,
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.
