Normal Health Parameters And Effective Communication - Samples

Questions: Q1. Normal health parameters. Provide a brief outline of what is required in a primary health assessment and outline the health parameters (Blood Pressure, Temperature, Respirations, Pulse rate) of an adult (aged 30- 40) for that age group? Q2. Describe the differences in normal health parameters (Blood Pressure, Temperature, Respirations, Pulse rate) for- 1) the older adult (aged 72 as in the video provided); and 2) the child aged 6-10? Q3. Using the Effective Communication Techniques on p.19 - 26 in the prescribed text (Estes et al., 2016), identify which effective communication techniques were utilised in the video, and using additional literature to support your points explain how these techniques were effective? Answers: 1. Primary health assessment is the initial care plan that is focused on the need of the patient in a skilled healthcare facility (Riley 2015, p.53). This is generally done by observing the patients vital signs and symptoms (Crisp et al. 2017, p.47). The parameters that are generally checked in this procedure are Blood pressure which determines the pressure of blood in the circulatory cavity, it is about 12/80nnHg for normal adults of 25-40 age group. The next vital sign is checking body temperature which is normal at 37C, for adults. Deterioration in health affects the temperature which can be addresses or further investigated. Respiratory rate is another vital sign that may indicate trouble in cardiac output of the heart. The normal range is 12-20 breaths per minute (bpm); any alteration indicates that the heart is malfunctioning. In the provided video the nurse addresses all the aspects as soon as she establishes a communication with the patient. The attendant checked for airway b lockages, circulation output, disability and expose as well. It is important to establish a two way communication effectively between the patient and thenursing staff. This can be done by being patient polite and attentive to the patients needs. The nurse also thoroughly went through the patients medical history and correlated with the information provided by the previous handover nurse, which is a good sign of effective clinical practice. 2. The vital symptoms or health parameters of patients differ from each other because, these parameters are affected by gender, age environmental factors et cetra. According to survey document provided by The American College of Cardiology (ACC)/American Heart Association (AHA) in 2011, the average BP for patients aged 60-79 is 140-90nnHg (Aronow et al., 2015 p.2). The video provided is 72 and is seen to have 120/70mmHg BP, which is lower than normal which could be due to the fact that the patient has ischemic heart disease. In children, 6-10, the BP is 109-117mmHg for boys and 108-114nnHg for girls (Fleming et al., 2011, p.2). Body temperature is universally same for children as well elderly patients, as it the biological temperature in which any living animal grows. The patient in the video showed no signs of elevated temperature. Normal respiratory rates for elderly patients ranged from 12 to18 bpm for those without illness and16 to 25 bpmfor those receiving long term-care (OHarta igh et al., 2015, p.18). A respiratory rate of20 or more bpm, like case of the video,indicates that the patient has tachypnea and needs hospital care. The allowed pulse rate for elderly patient ranges from 60-100 bpm universally and for children is 75-115 bpm. 3. Effective communication is very important to maintain patient engagement and perform with good clinical practice (Riley 2015, p.231). It is the nurses duty to engage the patient in effective communication and make them feel comfortable, a good way to do this by practising an interview based communication. Certain factors influence patient interview, like, approach by which a nurse is reaching out to the patient. This communication needs to polite, clear and simple, which the nurse seems to be following in the video. Another factor is environment, which makes the patient feel comfortable to share his/her experience, problem et cetra, the patient appears to be comfortable in the hospital setting and the nurse has good listening skills which reassures the patient (Estes et al., 2016, p.22). Care has to be taken when dealing with children and elderly as they require more attention. Keeping the confidence of a patient is very important to establish trust and engage the patient in clini cal trials. Many laws and guidelines have been regulated to control privacy of an individual in a healthcare setting. It is important to takes notes during a clinical assessment to reflect later and provide useful information to the nest handover nurse, which the nurse seems to be writing down the vital sign reports after her check-up (Estes et al., 2016, p.22). The nurse seems to be patient and takes ample time to complete her check-up, which is very important in health care settings as, rushed or hurried decision can cause clinical errors. The nurse should have no bias or preconceived notions regarding the patient, or their condition. References: Aronow, W. S. (2015). Blood pressure goals and targets in the elderly.Current treatment options in cardiovascular medicine,17(7), 33. Crisp et al., (2017). Potter and Perrys Fundamentals of Nursing, Australian and New Zealand Edition (5e). Elsevier, Chatswood. Estes et al., (2016). Health Assessment and Physical Examination. Australian and New Zealand 2nd Edition. Cengage Learning Fleming, S., Thompson, M., Stevens, R., Heneghan, C., Plddemann, A., Maconochie, I., ... Mant, D. (2011). Normal ranges of heart rate and respiratory rate in children from birth to 18 years of age: a systematic review of observational studies.The Lancet,377(9770), 1011-1018. OHartaigh, B., Pahor, M., Buford, T. W., Dodson, J. A., Forman, D. E., Gill, T. M. (2014). Physical activity and resting pulse rate in older adults: Findings from a randomized controlled trial.American heart journal,168(4), 597-604. Riley, J. B. (2015). Communication in nursing. Elsevier Health Sciences.