The Royal Marsden Manual of Clinical Nursing Procedures

Chapter 1

Introduction

Overview

This introductory chapter gives an overview of the purpose and structure of the book. Nurses have a central role to play in helping patients to manage the demands of the procedures described in this manual. We also need to be mindful of the evidence upon which we are basing the care we deliver. We hope that through increasing the clarity with which the evidence for the procedures in this edition are presented you will be better able to underpin the care you deliver to your patients in your day-to-day practice.

The chapter also highlights how the risk management implications of the areas of practice are now integrated into each chapter. The chapter then goes on to explain how the structure of the book is organized into three broad sections that represent, as far as possible, the needs of a patient along their care pathway.

The first edition of The Royal Marsden Manual of Clinical Nursing Procedures was produced in the early 1980s as a core procedure manual for safe nursing practice within The Royal Marsden Hospital, the first cancer hospital in the world. Implicit behind that first edition was the drive to ensure that patients received the very best care – expertise in carrying out clinical procedures combined with an attitude of respect and compassion.

Thirty years later these attitudes are still fundamental. The Chief Nurse Jane Cummings has ‘committed to make sure all patients receive the very best care with compassion and clinical skill’ (DH 2013). The values and behaviours of this compassionate practice are: Care, Compassion, Competence, Communication, Courage and Commitment – the 6Cs (DH 2013). This manual of clinical procedures focuses on bringing together current evidence, acting as an essential resource for practice and providing the theory underpinning Competence, one of the 6Cs.

This ninth edition focuses for the first time on procedures that are applicable in all areas of acute inpatient hospital care. (Procedures specific to the care of the cancer patient can be found in the new companion volume The Royal Marsden Clinical Cancer Nursing Procedures.) The Manual is informed by the day-to-day practice in the hospital and conversely is the corporate policy and procedure document for the adult inpatient service of the organization. It therefore does not cover all aspects of acute nursing practice or those relating to children’s or community nursing. However, it does contain the procedures and changes in practice that reflect modern acute nursing care.

Core to nursing, wherever it takes place, is the commitment to care for individuals and to keep them safe so that when and wherever the procedures are used, they are to be carried out within the framework of the Nursing and Midwifery Code, (NMC 2015). In respect of clinical competency, the NMC Code states that you must:

have the knowledge and skills for safe and effective practice without direct supervision

keep your knowledge and skills up to date throughout your working life

recognize and work within the limits of your competence (NMC 2015).

The Manual has been structured to enable nurses to develop competency, recognizing that competence is not just about knowing how to do something but also about understanding the rationale for doing it and the impact it may have on the patient.

Some of the procedures in the Manual will be newer for nursing, carried out by nurses such as advanced nurse practitioners. Developing new roles and taking responsibility for new procedures have obvious risks attached and, although every individual nurse is accountable for their own actions, every healthcare organization has to take vicarious liability for the care, treatment and procedures that take place. An organization will have expectations of all its nurses in respect of keeping patients, themselves and the environment safe. There are obvious ethical and moral reasons for this: ‘Nurses have a moral obligation to protect those we serve and to provide the best care we have available’ (Wilson 2005, p.118). Risk management has therefore become an integral part of day-to-day nursing work. For this reason, the risk management implications of the areas of practice have been integrated into each chapter.

Evidence-based practice

The moral obligation described above extends to the evidence upon which we base our practice. Nursing now exists in a healthcare arena that routinely uses evidence to support decisions and nurses must justify their rationales for practice. Where historically, nursing and specifically clinical procedures were based on rituals rather than research (Ford and Walsh 1994, Walsh and Ford 1989), evidence-based practice (EBP) now forms an integral part of practice, education, management, strategy and policy. Nursing care must be appropriate, timely and based on the best available evidence.

What is evidence-based practice?

Evidence-based practice has been described by Sackett, a pioneer in introducing EBP in UK healthcare, as:

‘the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of the individual patients. The practice of evidence-based medicine means integrating individual clinical expertise with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research’ (Sackett et al. 1996, p.72).

Despite the emphasis on research in EBP, it is important to note that where research is lacking, other forms of evidence can be equally informative when making decisions about practice. Evidence-based practice goes much wider than research-based practice and encompasses clinical expertise as well as other forms of knowing, such as those outlined in Carper’s seminal work (1978) in nursing. These include:

empirical evidence

aesthetic evidence

ethical evidence

personal evidence.

This issue is evident throughout this Manual where clinical expertise and guidelines inform the actions and rationale of the procedures. Indeed, these other types of evidence are highly important as long as we can still apply scrutiny to their use.

Porter (2010) describes a wider empirical base upon which nurses make decisions and argues for nurses to take into account and be transparent about other forms of knowledge such as ethical, personal and aesthetic knowing, echoing Carper (1978). By doing this, and through acknowledging limitations to these less empirical forms of knowledge, nurses can justify their use of them to some extent. Furthermore, in response to Paley’s (2006) critique of EBP as a failure to holistically assess a situation, nursing needs to guard against cherry-picking, ensure EBP is not brandished ubiquitously and indiscriminately and know when judicious use of, for example, experiential knowledge (as a form of personal knowing) might be more appropriate.

Evidence-based nursing (EBN) and EBP are differentiated by Scott and McSherry (2009) in that EBN involves additional elements in its implementation. Evidence-based nursing is regarded as an ongoing process by which evidence is integrated into practice and clinical expertise is critically evaluated against patient involvement and optimal care (Scott and McSherry 2009). For nurses to implement EBN, four key requirements are outlined (Scott and McSherry 2009).

To be aware of what EBN means.

To know what constitutes evidence.

To understand how EBN differs from evidence-based medicine and EBP.

To understand the process of engaging with and applying the evidence.

We contextualize our information and decisions to reach best practice for patients and the ability to use research evidence and clinical expertise together with the preferences and circumstances of the patient to arrive at the best possible decision for that patient is recognized (Guyatt et al. 2004).

Knowledge can be gained that is both propositional, that is from research and generalizable, and non-propositional, that is implicit knowledge derived from practice (Rycroft-Malone et al. 2004). In more tangible, practical terms, evidence bases can be drawn from a number of different sources, and this pluralistic approach needs to be set in the context of the complex clinical environment in which nurses work in today’s NHS (Pearson et al. 2007, Rycroft-Malone et al. 2004). The evidence bases can be summarized under four main areas.

Research

Clinical experience/expertise/tradition

Patient, clients and carers

The local context and environment (Pearson et al. 2007, Rycroft-Malone et al. 2004)

Grading evidence in The Royal Marsden Manual of Clinical Nursing Procedures

The type of evidence that underpins procedures is made explicit by using a system to categorize the evidence which is broader than that generally used. It has been developed from the types of evidence described by Rycroft-Malone et al. (2004) in an attempt to acknowledge that ‘in reality practitioners draw on multiple sources of knowledge in the course of their practice and interaction with patients’ (Rycroft-Malone et al. 2004, p.88).

The sources of evidence, along with examples, are identified as follows.

Clinical experience (E)

Encompasses expert practical know-how, gained through working with others and reflecting on best practice.

Example: (Dougherty 2008: E). This is drawn from the following article that gives expert clinical opinion: Dougherty, L. (2008) Obtaining peripheral vascular access. In: Dougherty, L. & Lamb, J. (eds) Intravenous Therapy in Nursing Practice, 2nd edn. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

Patient (P)

Gained through expert patient feedback and extensive experience of working with patients.

Example: (Diamond 1998: P). This has been gained from a personal account of care written by a patient: Diamond, J. (1998) C: Because Cowards Get Cancer Too. London: Vermilion.

Context (C)

Can include audit and performance data, social and professional networks, local and national policy, guidelines from professional bodies (e.g. Royal College of Nursing [RCN]) and manufacturer’s recommendations.

Example: (DH 2001: C). This document gives guidelines for good practice: DH (2001) National Service Framework for Older People. London: Department of Health.

Research (R)

Evidence gained through research.

Example: (Fellowes et al. 2004: R). This has been drawn from the following evidence: Fellowes, D., Wilkinson, S. & Moore, P. (2004) Communication skills training for healthcare professionals working with cancer patients, their families and/or carers. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2, CD003751. DOI: 10.10002/14651858.CD003571.pub2.

The levels that have been chosen are adapted from Sackett et al. (2000) as follows.

Systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials (RCTs)

Individual RCTs with narrow confidence limits

Systematic reviews of cohort studies

Individual cohort studies and low-quality RCTs

Systematic reviews of case–control studies

Case–control studies

Case series and poor-quality cohort and case–control studies

Expert opinion

The evidence underpinning all the procedures has been reviewed and updated. To reflect the current trends in EBP, the evidence presented to support the procedures within the current edition of the Manual has been graded, with this grading made explicit to the reader. The rationale for the system adopted in this edition will now be outlined.

As we have seen, there are many sources of evidence and ways of grading evidence, and this has led us to a decision to consider both of these factors when referencing the procedures. You will therefore see that references identify if the source of the evidence was from:

clinical experience and guidelines (Dougherty 2008: E)

patient (Diamond 1998: P)

context (DH 2001: C)

research (Fellowes et al. 2004: R).

If there is no written evidence to support a clinical experience or guidelines as a justification for undertaking a procedure, the text will be referenced as an ‘E’ but will not be preceded by an author’s name.

For the evidence that comes from research, this referencing system will be taken one step further and the research will be graded using a hierarchy of evidence. The levels that have been chosen are adapted from Sackett et al. (2000) and can be found in Box 1.1.

Box 1.1 Levels of evidence

Systematic reviews of RCTs

Individual RCTs with narrow confidence limits

Systematic reviews of cohort studies

Individual cohort studies and low-quality RCTs

Systematic reviews of case–control studies

Case–control studies

Case series and poor-quality cohort and case–control studies

Expert opinion

RCTs, randomized controlled trials.

Source: Adapted from Sackett et al. (2000). Reproduced with permission from Elsevier.

Taking the example above of Fellowes et al. (2004) ‘Communication skills training for healthcare professionals working with cancer patients, their families or carer’, this is a systematic review of RCTs from the Cochrane Centre and so would be identified in the references as: Fellowes et al. (2004: R 1a).

Through this process, we hope that the reader will be able to more clearly identify the nature of the evidence upon which the care of patients is based and that this will assist when using these procedures in practice. You may also like to consider the evidence base for other procedures and policies in use in your own organization.

Structure of the Manual

The chapters have been organized into four broad sections that represent as far as possible the needs of a patient along their care pathway. The first section, Managing the patient journey, presents the generic information that the nurse needs for every patient who enters the acute care environment. The second section of procedures, Supporting the patient with human functioning, relates to the support a patient may require with normal human functions such as elimination, nutrition and respiration. The third section, Supporting the patient through the diagnostic process, includes procedures that relate to any aspect of supporting a patient through the diagnostic process, from simple procedures such as taking a temperature to preparing a patient for complex procedures such as a liver biopsy. The final section, Supporting the patient through treatment, includes the procedures related to specific types of treatment or therapies the patient is receiving.

Structure of chapters

The structure of each chapter is consistent throughout the book.

Overview: as the chapters are larger and have considerably more content, each one begins with an overview to guide the reader, informing them of the scope and the sections included in the chapter.

Definition: each section begins with a definition of the terms and explanation of the aspects of care, with any technical or difficult concepts explained.

Anatomy and physiology: each section includes a discussion of the anatomy and physiology relating to the aspects of nursing care in the chapter. If appropriate, this is illustrated with diagrams so the context of the procedure can be fully understood by the reader.

Related theory: if an understanding of theoretical principles is necessary to understand the procedure then this has been included.

Evidence-based approaches: this provides background and presents the research and expert opinion in this area. If appropriate, the indications and contraindications are included as well as any principles of care.

Legal and professional issues: this outlines any professional guidance, law or other national policy that may be relevant to the procedures. If necessary, this includes any professional competences or qualifications required in order to perform the procedures. Any risk management considerations are also included in this section.

Pre-procedural considerations: when carrying out any procedure, there are certain actions that may need to be completed, equipment prepared or medication given before the procedure begins. These are made explicit under this heading.

Procedure: each chapter includes the current procedures that are used in the acute hospital setting. They have been drawn from the daily nursing practice at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. Only procedures about which the authors have knowledge and expertise have been included. Each procedure gives detailed step-by-step actions, supported by rationale, and where available the known evidence underpinning this rationale has been indicated.

Problem solving and resolution: if relevant, each procedure will be followed by a table of potential problems that may be encountered while carrying out the procedure as well as suggestions as to the cause, prevention and any action that may help resolve the problem.

Post-procedural considerations: care for the patient does not end with the procedure. This section details any documentation the nurse may need to complete, education/information that needs to be given to the patient, ongoing observations or referrals to other members of the multiprofessional team.

Complications: any ongoing problems or potential complications are discussed in a final section which includes evidence-based suggestions for resolution.

Illustrations: colour illustrations have been used to demonstrate the steps of some procedures. This will enable the nurse to see in greater detail, for example, the correct position of hands or the angle of a needle.

References and reading list: the chapter finishes with a combined reference and reading list. Only recent texts from the last 10 years have been included unless they are seminal texts. A list of websites has also been included.

This book is intended as a reference and a resource, not as a replacement for practice-based education. None of the procedures in this book should be undertaken without prior instruction and subsequent supervision from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional. We hope that The Royal Marsden Hospital Manual of Clinical Nursing Procedures will continue to be a resource to deliver high-quality care that maximizes the well-being and improves the health outcomes of patients in acute hospital settings.

Conclusion

It is important to remember that even if a procedure is very familiar to us and we are very confident in carrying it out, it may be new to the patient, so time must be taken to explain it and gain consent, even if this is only verbal consent. The diverse range of technical procedures that patients may be subjected to should act as a reminder not to lose sight of the unique person undergoing such procedures and the importance of individualized patient assessment in achieving this.

When a nurse

Encounters another

What occurs is never a neutral event

A pulse taken

Words exchanged

A touch

A healing moment

Two persons

Are never the same

(Anon in Dossey et al. 2005)

Nurses have a central role to play in helping patients to manage the demands of the procedures described in this Manual. It must not be forgotten that for the patient, the clinical procedure is part of a larger picture, which encompasses an appreciation of the unique experience of illness. Alongside this, we need to be mindful of the evidence upon which we are basing the care we deliver. We hope that through increasing the clarity with which the evidence for the procedures in this edition is presented, you will be better able to underpin the care you deliver to your patients in your day-to-day practice.

References

Carper, B. (1978) Fundamental patterns of knowing in nursing. ANS Advances in Nursing Science, 1(1), 13–23.

DH (2001) National Service Framework for Older People. London: Department of Health.

DH (2013) Compassion in Practice. NHS Commissioning Board. Leeds: Department of Health.

Diamond, J. (1998) C: Because Cowards Get Cancer Too. London: Vermilion.

Dossey, B.M., Keegan, L. & Guzzetta, C.E. (2005) Holistic Nursing: A Handbook for Practice, 4th edn. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.

Dougherty, L. (2008) Obtaining peripheral vascular access. In: Dougherty, L. & Lamb, J. (eds) Intravenous Therapy in Nursing Practice, 2nd edn. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

Fellowes, D., Wilkinson, S. & Moore, P. (2004) Communication skills training for health care professionals working with cancer patients, their families and/or carers. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2, CD003751.

Ford, P. & Walsh, M. (1994) New Rituals for Old: Nursing Through the Looking Glass. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Guyatt, G., Cook, D. & Haynes, B. (2004) Evidence based medicine has come a long way. BMJ, 329 (7473), 990–991.

NMC (2015) The Code: Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics for Nurses and Midwives. London: Nursing and Midwifery Council.

Paley, J. (2006) Evidence and expertise. Nursing Enquiry, 13(2), 82–93.

Pearson, A., Field, J. & Jordan, Z. (2007) Evidence-Based Clinical Practice in Nursing and Health Care: Assimilating Research, Experience, and Expertise. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

Porter, S. (2010) Fundamental patterns of knowing in nursing: the challenge of evidence-based practice. ANS Advances in Nursing Science, 33(1), 3–14.

Rycroft-Malone, J., Seers, K., Titchen, A., Harvey, G., Kitson, A. & McCormack, B. (2004) What counts as evidence in evidence-based practice? Journal of Advanced Nursing, 47(1), 81–90.

Sackett, D.L., Rosenberg, W.M., Gray, J.A., Haynes, R.B. & Richardson, W.S. (1996) Evidence based medicine: what it is and what it isn’t. BMJ, 312(7023), 71–72.

Sackett, D.L., Strauss, S.E. & Richardson, W.S. (2000) Evidence-Based Medicine: How to Practice and Teach EBM, 2nd edn. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.

Scott, K. & McSherry, R. (2009) Evidence-based nursing: clarifying the concepts for nurses in practice. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 18(8), 1085–1095.

Walsh, M. & Ford, P. (1989) Nursing Rituals, Research and Rational Actions. Oxford: Heinemann Nursing.

Wilson, C. (2005) Said another way. My definition of nursing. Nursing Forum, 40(3), 116–118.

Part One

Managing the patient journey

Chapters

2 Assessment and discharge

3 Infection prevention and control

Chapter 2

Assessment and discharge

Procedure guidelines

2.1 Respiratory examination

2.2 Cardiovascular examination

2.3 Abdominal examination

Overview

This chapter will give an overview of a patient’s care from assessment through to discharge.

Assessment forms an integral part of patient care and is considered to be the first step in the process of individualized nursing care. It provides information that is critical to the development of a plan of action that enhances personal health status.

Assessment decreases the potential for, or the severity of, chronic conditions and helps the individual to gain control over their health through self-care (RCN 2004). Early and continued assessments are vital to the success of the management of patient care. It is critical that nurses have the ability to assess patients and document their findings in a systematic way.

Advanced nursing practice provides a high quality of care (McLoughlin et al. 2012), and has emerged in response to changing healthcare demands and the need for a flexible approach to care delivery. Key roles within advanced nursing practice include conducting comprehensive health assessments, demonstrating expert skills in diagnosing and treating acute or chronic illness and making specialist referrals as required. Physical assessment is a core procedure for those undertaking this role so has been incorporated into this chapter.

Discharge planning is key to ensuring that patients return to the community with the appropriate care to support them and their carers at home. The process can also reduce hospital length of stay and unplanned readmission to hospital, and improve the co-ordination of services following discharge from hospital (Shepperd et al. 2013).

The nurse’s ability to assess the needs of the patient and carer (Atwal 2002) is central to a good discharge.

Inpatient assessment and the process of care

Definition

Assessment is the systematic and continuous collection, organization, validation and documentation of information (Berman et al. 2010). It is a deliberate and interactive process that underpins every aspect of nursing care (Heaven and Maguire 1996). It is the process by which the nurse and patient together identify needs and concerns. It is seen as the cornerstone of individualized care, a way in which the uniqueness of each patient can be recognized and considered in the care process (Holt 1995).

Related theory

Principles of assessment

The purpose of the nursing assessment is to get a complete picture of the patient and how they can be helped. An effective assessment will provide the nurse with information on the patient’s background, lifestyle, family history and the presence of illness or injury (Crouch and Meurier 2005). The nursing assessment should focus on the patient’s response to a health need rather than disease process and pathology (Wilkinson 2007). The process of assessment requires nurses to make accurate and relevant observations, to gather, validate and organize data and to make judgements to determine care and treatment needs. It should have physical, psychological, spiritual, social and cultural dimensions, and it is vital that these are explored with the person being assessed. The patient’s perspective of their level of daily activity functioning (Horton 2002) and their educational needs is essential to help maximize their understanding and self-care abilities (Alfaro-LeFevre 2014). It is only after making observations of the person and involving them in the process that the nurse can validate their perceptions and make appropriate clinical judgements.

Effective patient assessment is integral to the safety, continuity and quality of patient care, and fulfils the nurse’s legal and professional obligations in practice. The main principles of assessment are outlined in Box 2.1.

Box 2.1 Principles of assessment

Patient assessment is patient focused, being governed by the notion of an individual’s actual, potential and perceived needs.

It provides baseline information on which to plan the interventions and outcomes of care to be achieved.

It facilitates evaluation of the care given and is a dimension of care that influences a patient’s outcome and potential survival.

It is a dynamic process that starts when problems or symptoms develop, and continues throughout the care process, accommodating continual changes in the patient’s condition and circumstances.

It is essentially an interactive process in which the patient actively participates.

Optimal functioning, quality of life and the promotion of independence should be primary concerns.

The process includes observation, data collection, clinical judgement and validation of perceptions.

Data used for the assessment process are collected from several sources by a variety of methods, depending on the healthcare setting.

To be effective, the process must be structured and clearly documented.

Source: Adapted from Alfaro-LeFevre (2014), NMC (2015), Teytelman (2002), White (2003).

Structure of assessment

Structuring patient assessment is vital to monitoring the success of care and detecting the emergence of new problems. There are many conceptual frameworks or nursing models, such as Roper’s Activities of Daily Living (Roper et al. 2000), Orem’s self-care model (Orem et al. 2001) or Gordon’s Functional Health Patterns Framework (Gordon 1994). There remains, however, much debate about the effectiveness of such models for assessment in practice, some arguing that individualized care can be compromised by fitting patients into a rigid or complex structure (Kearney 2001, McCrae 2012). Nurses therefore need to take a pragmatic approach and utilize assessment frameworks that are appropriate to their particular area of practice. This is particularly relevant in today’s rapidly changing healthcare climate where nurses are taking on increasingly advanced roles, working across boundaries and setting up new services to meet patients’ needs (DH 2006a).

Nursing models can serve as a guide to the overall approach to care within a given healthcare environment and therefore provide a focus for the clinical judgements and decision-making processes that result from the process of assessment. During any patient assessment, nurses engage in a series of cognitive, behavioural and practical steps but do not always recognize them as discrete decision-making entities (Ford and McCormack 1999). Nursing models give novice practitioners a structure with which to identify these processes and to reflect on their practice in order to develop the analytical, problem-solving and judgement skills needed to provide an effective patient assessment.

Nursing models have been developed according to different ways of perceiving the main focus of nursing. These include adaptation models (e.g. Roy 1984), self-care models (e.g. Orem et al. 2001) and activities of daily living models (e.g. Murphy et al. 2000). Each model represents a different view of the relationship between four key elements of nursing: health, person, environment and nursing. It is important that the appropriate model is used to ensure that the focus of assessment data collected is effective for particular areas of practice (Alfaro-LeFevre 2014, Murphy et al. 2000). Nurses must also be aware of the rationale for implementing a particular model since the choice will determine the nature of patient care in their day-to-day work. The approach should be sensitive enough to discriminate between different clinical needs and flexible enough to be updated on a regular basis (Allen 1998, Smith and Richardson 1996).

The framework of choice at the Royal Marsden Hospital is based on Gordon’s Functional Health Patterns (Gordon 1994; Box 2.2). The framework facilitates an assessment that focuses on patients’ and families’ problems and functional status and applies clinical cues to interpret deviations from the patient’s usual patterns (Johnson 2000). The model is applicable to all levels of care, allowing all problem areas to be identified. The information derived from the patient’s initial functional health patterns is crucial for interpreting both the patient’s and their family’s pattern of response to the disease and treatment.

Box 2.2 Gordon’s functional health patterns

Health perception – health management

Nutrition – metabolic

Elimination

Activity – exercise

Sleep – rest

Cognitive – perceptual

Self-perception – self-concept

Coping – stress tolerance

Role – relationship

Sexuality – reproductivity

Value – belief

Source: Gordon (1994). Reproduced with permission from Elsevier.

Evidence-based approaches

Collecting data

Data collection is the process of gathering information about the patient’s health needs. This information is collected by means of interview, observation and physical examination and consists of both objective and subjective data. Objective data are measurable and can be detected by someone other than the patient. They include vital signs, physical signs and symptoms, and laboratory results. Subjective data, on the other hand, are based on what the patient perceives and may include descriptions of their concerns, support network, their awareness and knowledge of their abilities/disabilities, their understanding of their illness and their attitude to and readiness for learning (Wilkinson 2007). Nurses working in different settings rely on different observational and physical data. A variety of methods have been developed to facilitate nurses in eliciting both objective and subjective assessment data on the assumption that, if assessment is not accurate, all other nursing activity will also be inaccurate.

Studies of patient assessment by nurses are few but they indicate that discrepancies between the nurses’ perceptions and those of their patients are common (Brown et al. 2001, Lauri et al. 1997, McDonald et al. 1999, Parsaie et al. 2000). Communication is therefore key for, as Suhonen et al. (2000) suggest, ‘there are two actors in individual care, the patient and the nurse’ (p. 1254). Gaining insight into the patient’s preferences and individualized needs is facilitated by meaningful interaction and depends both on the patient’s willingness and capability in participating in the process and the nurse’s interviewing skills. The initial assessment interview not only allows the nurse to obtain baseline information about the patient, but also facilitates the establishment of a therapeutic relationship (Crumbie 2006). Patients may find it difficult to disclose some problems and these may only be identified once the nurse–patient relationship develops and the patient trusts that the nurse’s assessment reflects concern for their well-being.

While the patient is the primary source of information, data may be elicited from a variety of other secondary sources including family and friends, other healthcare professionals and the patient’s medical records (Kozier 2012, Walsh et al. 2007).

Assessment interviews

An assessment interview needs structure to progress logically in order to facilitate the nurse’s thinking (an example of such a structure can be found in Box 2.3) and to make the patient feel comfortable in telling their story. It can be perceived as being in three phases: the introductory, working and end phases (Crumbie 2006).

Box 2.3 Carrying out a patient assessment using functional health patterns

Source: Adapted from Gordon (1994). Reproduced with permission from Elsevier.

It is important at the beginning to build a rapport with the patient. It is vital that the nurse demonstrates interest and respect in the patient from the very start of the interview. Some of the questions asked are likely to be of a searching and intimate nature, which may be difficult for the patient to disclose. The nurse should emphasize the confidential nature of the discussion and take steps to reduce anxiety and ensure privacy since the patient may modify their words and behaviour depending on the environment. Taking steps to establish trust and develop the relationship early will set the scene for effective and accurate information exchange (Aldridge et al. 2005, Silverman et al. 2013).

In the middle working phase, various techniques can be employed to assist with the flow of information. Open questions are useful to identify broad information that can then be explored more specifically with focused questions to determine the nature and extent of the problem. Other helpful techniques include restating what has been said to clarify certain issues, using verbal and non-verbal cues to encourage the patient, verbalizing the implied meaning, using silence and summarizing (Kozier 2012, Silverman et al. 2013). It is important to recognize that there may be times when it is not possible to obtain vital information directly from the patient; they may be too distressed, unconscious or unable to speak clearly, if at all. In such situations, appropriate details should be taken from relatives or friends and recorded as such. Effort should equally be made to overcome language or cultural barriers by the use of interpreters.

The end phase involves a further summary of the important points and an explanation of any referrals made. In order to gain the patient’s perspective on the priorities of care and to emphasise the continuing interest in their needs, a final question asking about their concerns can be used (Alfaro-LeFevre 2014). Examples include: ‘Tell me the most important things I can help you with’, ‘Is there anything else you would like to tell me?’, ‘Is there anything that we haven’t covered that still concerns you?’ or ‘If there are any changes or you have any questions, do let me know’. Box 2.4 provides a summary of the types of assessment.

Box 2.4 Types of patient assessment

Mini assessment

A snapshot view of the patient based on a quick visual and physical assessment. Consider patient’s ABC (airway, breathing and circulation), then assess mental status, overall appearance, level of consciousness and vital signs before focusing on the patient’s main problem.

Comprehensive assessment

An in-depth assessment of the patient’s health status, physical examination, risk factors, psychological and social aspects of the patient’s health that usually takes place on admission or transfer to a hospital or healthcare agency. It will take into account the patient’s previous health status prior to admission.

Focused assessment

An assessment of a specific condition, problem, identified risks or assessment of care; for example, continence assessment, nutritional assessment, neurological assessment following a head injury, assessment for day care, outpatient consultation for a specific condition.

Ongoing assessment

Continuous assessment of the patient’s health status accompanied by monitoring and observation of specific problems identified in a mini, comprehensive or focused assessment.

Source: Ahern and Philpot (2002), Holmes (2003), White (2003).

Legal and professional issues

The NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework (DH 2004a) states that the specific dimensions of ‘assessment and care planning to meet people’s health and wellbeing needs’ and ‘assessment and treatment planning related to the structure and function of physiological and psychological systems’ are core to nursing posts in all settings. In undertaking this work, staff will need to be aware of their legal obligations and responsibilities, the rights of the different people involved, and the diversity of the people they are working with.

Nurses have an obligation to record details of any assessments and reviews undertaken, and provide clear evidence of the arrangements that have been made for future and ongoing care (NMC 2010). This should also include details of information given about care and treatment.

Pre-procedural considerations

Assessment tools

The use of assessment tools enables a standardized approach to obtaining specific patient data. This can facilitate the documentation of change over time and the evaluation of clinical interventions and nursing care (O’Connor and Eggert 1994). Perhaps more importantly, assessment tools encourage patients to engage in their care and provide a vehicle for communication to allow nurses to follow patients’ experiences more effectively.

Assessment tools in clinical practice can be used to assess a patient’s general needs, for example the supportive care needs survey (Bonevski et al. 2000), or to assess a specific problem, for example the oral assessment guide (Eilers et al. 1988). The choice of tool depends on the clinical setting although, in general, the aim of using an assessment tool is to link the assessment of clinical variables with measurement of clinical interventions (Frank-Stromborg and Olsen 2004). To be useful in clinical practice, an assessment tool must be simple, acceptable to patients, have a clear and interpretable scoring system and demonstrate reliability and validity (Brown et al. 2001).

More tools are used in practice to assess treatment-related symptoms than other aspects of care, possibly because these symptoms are predictable and of a physical nature and are therefore easier to measure. The most visible symptoms are not always those that cause most distress (Holmes and Eburn 1989); however, an acknowledgement of the patient’s subjective experience is therefore an important element in the development of assessment tools (McClement et al. 1997, Rhodes et al. 2000).

The use of patient self-assessment tools appears to facilitate the process of assessment in a number of ways. It enables patients to indicate their subjective experience more easily, gives them an increased sense of participation (Kearney 2001) and prevents them from being distanced from the process by nurses rating their symptoms and concerns (Brown et al. 2001). Many authors have demonstrated the advantages of increasing patient participation in assessment by the use of patient self-assessment questionnaires (Rhodes et al. 2000).

The methods used to facilitate patient assessment are important adjuncts to assessing patients in clinical practice. There is a danger that too much focus can be placed on the framework, system or tool that prevents nurses thinking about the significance of the information that they are gathering from the patient (Harris et al. 1998). Rather than following assessment structures and prompts rigidly, it is essential that nurses utilize their critical thinking and clinical judgement throughout the process in order to continually develop their skills in eliciting information about patients’ concerns and using this to inform care planning (Edwards and Miller 2001).

Principles of an effective nursing assessment

The admitting nurse is responsible for ensuring that an initial assessment is completed when the patient is admitted. The patient’s needs identified following this process then need to be documented in their care plan.

Box 2.5 discusses each area of assessment, indicating points for consideration and suggesting questions that may be helpful to ask the patient as part of the assessment process.

Box 2.5 Points for consideration and suggested questions for use during the assessment process

1 Cognitive and perceptual ability

Communication

The nurse needs to assess the level of sensory functioning with or without aids/support such as hearing aid(s), speech aid(s), glasses/contact lenses, and the patient’s capacity to use and maintain aids/support correctly. Furthermore, it is important to assess whether there are or might be any potential language or cultural barriers during this part of the assessment. Knowing the norm within the culture will facilitate understanding and lessen miscommunication (Galanti 2000).

How good are the patient’s hearing and eyesight?

Is the patient able to express their views and wishes using appropriate verbal and non-verbal methods of communication in a manner that is understandable by most people?

Are there any potential language or cultural barriers to communicating with the patient?

Information

During this part of the assessment, the nurse will assess the patient’s ability to comprehend the present environment without showing levels of distress. This will help to establish whether there are any barriers to the patient understanding their condition and treatment. It may help them to be in a position to give informed consent.

Is the patient able and ready to understand any information about their forthcoming treatment and care? Are there any barriers to learning?

Is the patient able to communicate an understanding of their condition, plan of care and potential outcomes/responses?

Will he or she be able to give informed consent?

Neurological

It is important to assess the patient’s ability to reason logically and decisively, and determine that he or she is able to communicate in a contextually coherent manner.

Is the patient alert and orientated to time, place and person?

Pain

To provide optimal patient care, the assessor needs to have appropriate knowledge of the patient’s pain and an ability to identify the pain type and location. Assessment of a patient’s experience of pain is a crucial component in providing effective pain management. Dimond (2002) asserts that it is unacceptable for patients to experience unmanaged pain or for nurses to have inadequate knowledge about pain. Pain should be measured using an assessment tool that identifies the quantity and/or quality of one or more of the dimensions of the patient’s experience of pain.

Assessment should also observe for signs of neuropathic pain, including descriptions such as shooting, burning, stabbing, allodynia (pain associated with gentle touch) (Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists 2005, Jensen et al. 2003, Rowbotham and Macintyre 2003).

Is the patient pain free at rest and/or on movement?

Is the pain a primary complaint or a secondary complaint associated with another condition?

What is the location of the pain and does it radiate?

When did it begin and what circumstances are associated with it?

How intense is the pain, at rest and on movement?

What makes the pain worse and what helps to relieve it?

How long does the pain last, for example, continuous, intermittent?

Ask the patient to describe the character of pain using quality/sensory descriptors, for example, sharp, throbbing, burning.

For further details regarding pain assessment, see Chapter 8: Patient comfort and end-of-life care.

2 Activity and exercise

Respiratory

Respiratory pattern monitoring addresses the patient’s breathing pattern, rate and depth.

Does the patient have any difficulty breathing?

Is there any noise when they are breathing such as wheezing?

Does breathing cause them pain?

How deep or shallow is their breathing?

Is their breathing symmetrical?

Does the patient have any underlying respiratory problems such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema, tuberculosis, bronchitis, asthma or any other airway disease?

In this section it is also important to assess and monitor smoking habits. It is helpful to document the smoking habit in the format of pack-years. A pack-year is a term used to describe the number of cigarettes a person has smoked over time. One pack-year is defined as 20 manufactured cigarettes (one pack) smoked per day for 1 year. At this point in the assessment, it would be a good opportunity, if appropriate, to discuss smoking cessation. A recent meta-analysis indicates that if interventions are given by nurses to their patients with regard to smoking cessation the benefits are greater (Rice and Stead 2008).

For further details see Chapter 9: Respiratory care.

Cardiovascular

A basic assessment is carried out and vital signs such as pulse (rhythm, rate and intensity) and blood pressure should be noted. Details of cardiac history should be taken for this part of the assessment. Medical conditions and experience of previous surgery should be noted.

Does the patient take any cardiac medication?

Does he/she have a pacemaker?

Physical abilities, personal hygiene/mobility/toileting, independence with activities of daily living

The aim during this part of the nursing assessment is to establish the level of assistance required by the person to tackle activities of daily living such as walking and steps/stairs. An awareness of obstacles to safe mobility and dangers to personal safety is an important factor and part of the assessment.

The nurse should also evaluate the patient’s ability to meet personal hygiene, including oral hygiene, needs. This should include the patient’s ability to make arrangements to preserve standards of hygiene and the ability to dress appropriately for climate, environment and their own standards of self-identity.

Is the patient able to stand, walk and go to the toilet?

Is the patient able to move up and down, roll and turn in bed?

Does the patient need any equipment to mobilize?

Has the patient good motor power in their arms and legs?

Does the patient have any history of falling?

Can the patient take care of their own personal hygiene needs independently or do they need assistance?

What type of assistance do they need: help with mobility or fine motor movements such as doing up buttons or shaving?

It might be necessary to complete a separate manual handling risk assessment – see Chapter 6: Moving and positioning.

3 Elimination

Gastrointestinal

During this part of the assessment it is important to determine a baseline with regard to independence.

Is the patient able to attend to their elimination needs independently and is he/she continent?

What are the patient’s normal bowel habits? Are bowel movements within the patient’s own normal pattern and consistency?

Does the patient have any underlying medical conditions such as Crohn’s disease or irritable bowel syndrome?

Does the patient have diarrhoea or is he/she prone to or have constipation?

How does this affect the patient?

For further discussion see Chapter 5: Elimination.

Genitourinary

The assessment is focused on the patient’s baseline observations with regard to urinary continence/incontinence. It is also important to note whether there is any penile or vaginal discharge or bleeding.

Does the patient have a urinary catheter in situ? If so, list the type and size. Furthermore, note the date the catheter was inserted and/or removed. Urinalysis results should also be noted here.

How often does the patient need to urinate? (Frequency)

How immediate is the need to urinate? (Urgency)

Do they wake in the night to urinate? (Nocturia)

Are they able to maintain control over their bladder at all times? (Incontinence – inability to hold urine)

For further discussion see Chapter 5: Elimination.

4 Nutrition

Oral care

As part of the inpatient admission assessment, the nurse should obtain an oral health history that includes oral hygiene beliefs, practices and current state of oral health. During this assessment it is important to be aware of treatments and medications that affect the oral health of the patient.

If deemed appropriate, use an oral assessment tool to perform the initial and ongoing oral assessment.

During the admission it is important to note the condition of the patient’s mouth.

Lips – pink, moist, intact.

Gums – pink, no signs of infection or bleeding.

Teeth – dentures, bridge, crowns, caps.

For full oral assessment, see Chapter 0: Patient comfort and end-of-life care.

Hydration

An in-depth assessment of hydration and nutritional status will provide the information needed for nursing interventions aimed at maximizing wellness and identifying problems for treatment. The assessment should ascertain whether the patient has any difficulty eating or drinking. During the assessment the nurse should observe signs of dehydration, for example dry mouth, dry skin, thirst or whether the patient shows any signs of altered mental state.

Is the patient able to drink adequately? If not, please explain why not.

How much and what does the patient drink?

Note the patient’s alcohol intake in the format of units per week and the caffeine intake measured in number of cups per day.

Nutrition

A detailed diet history provides insight into a patient’s baseline nutritional status. Assessment includes questions regarding chewing or swallowing problems, avoidance of eating related to abdominal pain, changes in appetite, taste or intake, as well as use of a special diet or nutritional supplements. A review of past medical history should identify any relevant conditions and highlight increased metabolic needs, altered gastrointestinal function and the patient’s capacity to absorb nutrients.

What is the patient’s usual daily food intake?

Do they have a good appetite?

Are they able to swallow/chew the food – any dysphagia?

Is there anything they don’t or can’t eat?

Have they experienced any recent weight changes or taste changes?

Are they able to eat independently?

(Arrowsmith 1999, BAPEN and Malnutrition Advisory Group 2000, DH 2005)

For further information, see Chapter 7: Nutrition, fluid balance and blood transfusion.

Nausea and vomiting

During this part of the assessment you want to ascertain whether the patient has any history of nausea and/or vomiting. Nausea and vomiting can cause dehydration, electrolyte imbalance and nutritional deficiencies (Marek 2003), and can also affect a patient’s psychosocial well-being. They may become withdrawn, isolated and unable to perform their usual activities of daily living.

Assessment should address questions such as:

Does the patient feel nauseous?

Is the patient vomiting? If so, what is the frequency, volume, content and timing?

Does nausea precede vomiting?

Does vomiting relieve nausea?

When did the symptoms start? Did they coincide with changes in therapy or medication?

Does anything make the symptoms better?

Does anything make the symptoms worse?

What is the effect of any current or past antiemetic therapy including dose, frequency, duration, effect, route of administration?

What is the condition of the patient’s oral cavity?

(Adapted from Perdue 2005)

5 Skin

A detailed assessment of a patient’s skin may provide clues to diagnosis, management and nursing care of the existing problem. A careful skin assessment can alert the nurse to cutaneous problems as well as systemic diseases. In addition, a great deal can be observed in a person’s face, which may give insight to his or her state of mind.

Does the patient have any sore places on their skin?

Does the patient have any dry or red areas?

Furthermore, it is necessary to assess whether the patient has any wounds and/or pressure sores. If so, you would need to complete a further wound assessment. For further information see Chapter 15: Wound management.

6 Controlling body temperature

This assessment is carried out to establish baseline temperature and determine if the temperature is within normal range, and whether there might be intrinsic or extrinsic factors for altered body temperature. It is important to note whether any changes in temperature are in response to specific therapies (e.g. antipyretic medication, immunosuppressive therapies, invasive procedures or infection (Bickley et al. 2013)). White blood count should be recorded to determine whether it is within normal limits. See Chapter 11: Observations.

Is the patient feeling excessively hot or cold?

Have they been shivering or sweating excessively?

7 Sleep and rest

This part of the assessment is performed to find out sleep and rest patterns and reasons for variation. Description of sleep patterns, routines and interventions applied to achieve a comfortable sleep should be documented. The nurse should also include the presence of emotional and/or physical problems that may interfere with sleep.

Does the patient have enough energy for desired daily activities?

Does the patient tire easily?

Has he/she any difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep?

Does he/she feel rested after sleep?

Does he/she sleep during the day?

Does he/she take any aids to help them sleep?

What are the patient’s normal hours for going to bed and waking?

8 Stress and coping

Assessment is focused on the patient’s perception of stress and on his or her coping strategies. Support systems should be evaluated and symptoms of stress should be noted. It includes the individual’s reserve or capacity to resist challenge to self-integrity, and modes of handling stress. The effectiveness of a person’s coping strategies in terms of stress tolerances may be further evaluated (adapted from Gordon 1994).

What are the things in the patient’s life that are stressful?

What do they do when they are stressed?

How do they know they are stressed?

Is there anything they do to help them cope when life gets stressful?

Is there anybody who they go to for support?

9 Roles and relationships

The aim is to establish the patient’s own perception of the roles and responsibilities in their current life situation. The patient’s role in the world and their relationships with others are important to understand. Assessment in this area includes finding out about the patient’s perception of the major roles and responsibilities they have in life, satisfaction or disturbances in family, work or social relationships. An assessment of home life should be undertaken which should include how they will cope at home post discharge from hospital and how those at home will cope while they are in hospital, for example dependants, children or animals and if there are any financial worries.

Who is at home?

Are there any dependants (include children, pets, anybody else they care for)?

What responsibilities does the patient have for the day-to-day running of the home?

What will happen if they are not there?

Do they have any concerns about home while they are in hospital?

Are there any financial issues related to their hospital stay?

Will there be any issues related to employment or study while they are in hospital?

10 Perception/concept of self

Body image/self-esteem

Body image is highly personal, abstract and difficult to describe. The rationale for this section is to assess the patient’s level of understanding and general perception of self. This includes their attitudes about self, perception of abilities (cognitive, affective or physical), body image, identity, general sense of worth and general emotional pattern. An assessment of body posture and movement, eye contact, voice and speech patterns should also be included.

How do you describe yourself?

How do you feel about yourself most of the time?

Has it changed since your diagnosis?

Have there been changes in the way you feel about yourself or your body?

11 Sexuality and reproduction

Understanding sexuality as the patient’s perceptions of their own body image, family roles and functions, relationships and sexual function can help the assessor to improve assessment and diagnosis of actual or potential alterations in sexual behaviour and activity.

Assessment in this area is vital and should include relevant feelings about the patient’s own body, their need for touch, interest in sexual activity, how they communicate their sexual needs to a partner, if they have one, and the ability to engage in satisfying sexual activities.

This may also be an opportunity to explore with the patient issues related to future reproduction if this is relevant to the admission. Below are a few examples of questions that can be used.

Are you currently in a relationship?

Has your condition had an impact on the way you and your partner feel about each other?

Has your condition had an impact on the physical expression of your feelings?

Has your treatment or current problem had any effect on your interest in being intimate with your partner?

12 Values and beliefs

Religious, spiritual and cultural beliefs

The aim is to assess the patient’s spiritual, religious and cultural needs to provide culturally and spiritually specific care while concurrently providing a forum to explore spiritual strengths that might be used to prevent problems or cope with difficulties. Assessment is focused on the patient’s values and beliefs, including spiritual beliefs, or on the goals that guide his or her choices or decisions. A patient’s experience of their stay in hospital may be influenced by their religious beliefs or other strongly held principles, cultural background or ethnic origin. It is important for nurses to have knowledge and understanding of the diverse cultures of their patients and take their different practices into account.

Are there any spiritual/cultural beliefs that are important to you?

Do you have any specific dietary needs related to your religious, spiritual or cultural beliefs?

Do you have any specific personal care needs related to your religious, spiritual or cultural beliefs (i.e. washing rituals, dress)?

13 Health perception and management

Relevant medical conditions, side-effects/complications of treatment

Assessment of the patient’s perceived pattern of health and well-being and how health is managed should be documented here. Any relevant history of previous health problems, including side-effects of medication, should be noted. Examples of other useful information that should be documented are compliance with medication regimen, use of health promotion activities such as regular exercise and if the patient has annual check-ups.

What does the patient know about their condition and planned treatment?

How would they describe their own current overall level of fitness?

What do they do to keep well: exercise, diet, annual check-ups or screening?

Post-procedural considerations

Decision making and nursing diagnosis

The purpose of collecting information through the process of assessment is to enable the nurse to make a series of clinical judgements, which are known in some circumstances as nursing diagnoses, and subsequently decisions about the nursing care each individual needs. The decision-making process is based upon the clues observed, analysed and interpreted and it has been suggested that expert nurses assess the situation as a whole and make judgements and decisions intuitively (Hedberg and Satterlund Larsson 2003, King and Clark 2002, Peden-McAlpine and Clark 2002), reflecting Benner’s (1984) renowned novice-to-expert theory. However, others argue that all nurses use a logical process of clinical reasoning in order to identify patients’ needs for nursing care and that, while this becomes more automatic with experience, it should always be possible for a nurse to explain how they arrive at a decision about an individual within their care (Gordon 1994, Putzier and Padrick 1984, Rolfe 1999). A further notion is that of a continuum, where our ability to make clinical judgements about our patients lies on a spectrum, with intuition at one end and linear, logical decisions (based on clinical trials, for example) at the other (Cader et al. 2005, Thompson 1999). Factors that may influence the process of decision making include time, complexity of the judgement or decision to be made, as well as the knowledge, experience and attitude of the individual nurse.

Nursing diagnosis is a term which describes both a clinical judgement that is made about an individual’s response to health or illness, and the process of decision making that leads to that judgement. The importance of thorough assessment within this process cannot be overestimated. The gathering of comprehensive and appropriate data from patients, including the meanings attributed to events by the patient, is associated with greater diagnostic accuracy and thus more timely and effective intervention (Alfaro-LeFevre 2014, Gordon 1994, Hunter 1998).

The concept of a ‘nursing diagnosis’ has historically generated much debate within the nursing literature. It is therefore important to clarify the difference between a nursing diagnosis and a patient problem or care need. ‘Patient problems’ or ‘needs’ are common terms used within nursing to facilitate communication about nursing care (Hogston 1997). As patient problems/needs may involve solutions or treatments from disciplines other than nursing, the concept of a ‘patient problem’ is similar to but broader than a nursing diagnosis. Nursing diagnoses describe problems that may be dealt with by nursing expertise (Leih and Salentijn 1994).

The term ‘nursing diagnosis’ also refers to a standardized nursing language, to describe patients’ needs for nursing care, that originated in America over 30 years ago and has now been developed, adapted and translated for use in numerous other countries. The language of nursing diagnosis provides a classification of over 200 terms (NANDA-I 2008), representing judgements that are commonly made with patients/clients about phenomena of concern to nurses, enabling more consistent communication and documentation of nursing