HUMAN

DEVELOPMENT
ACROSS LIFE SPAN

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
ACROSS THE LIFE SPAN

ASSESSEMENT OF HEALTH OF
INDIVIDUAL

A thorough assessment of the individuals

health status is basic to health promotion.
COMPONENTS:
1. health history
2. physical examination
3. physical fitness assessment
4. lifestyle assessment
5. health risk appraisal
6. health beliefs review
7. life stress review

PHYSICAL FITNESS ASSESSMENT

Nurse assesses several components of the
bodys physical functioning:
muscle endurance- situps with knees bent
flexibility- trunk flexion(ability to stretch
the back and thigh muscle)
body composition- skin folds
cardiorespiratory endurance- step test
( see Physical Fitness Assessment, Kozier p.
128)

LIFESTYLE ASSESSMENT
Focuses on the personal lifestyle and habits
of the client as they affect health
CATEGORIES:
physical activity
nutritional practices
stress management
habits smoking, alcohol consumption,
drug use
(see Health Style; A Self Test, Kozier,p. 129)

HEALTH CARE BELIEFS

Assessment of clients health care beliefs
provides the nurse with an indication of how
much the clients believe they can influence
or control health through personal behavior
If a person believes he or she has no control
of the outcome, it is difficult to provide
motivation to make necessary changes.

HEALTH RISK APPRAISAL

is an assessment and educational tool
that indicates a clients risk for disease or
injury during the next 10 years by
comparing the clients risk with the
mortality risk of the corresponding age,
sex, and social group.
The HRA includes a summary of the
persons health risk and lifestyle
behaviors with educational suggestions
on how to reduce the risks.

LIFE STRESS REVIEW

The impact of stress on mental and physical
well being
For example: Holmes & Rahe developed a
Life-Change Index- a tool that assigns
numerical values to life events ( Kozier, p.
132)

NURSING PHYSICAL
ASSESSMENT

PURPOSE OF PHYSICAL ASSESSMENT

To obtain baseline data about the clients functional
abilities
To supplement, confirm, or refute data obtained in
the nursing history
To obtain data that will help establish nursing
diagnosis and plan of care
To evaluate by physiologic outcomes of health care
and thus the progress of a clients health problem
To make clinical judgments about a clients health
status
To identify areas for health promotion and disease
prevention

HEALTH HISTORY
Components of a Nursing Health History

Biographic data
Chief complaint or reason for visit
History of present illness
Past history
Family history of illness
Lifestyle
Social data
Psychological data
Patterns of health care

TECHNIQUES OF EXAMINATION AND

ASSESSMENT

INSPECTION
PALPATION
PERCUSSION
AUSCULTATION

INSPECTION
Is the visual examination
Should be deliberate, purposeful, and
systematic
Inspects with the use of the naked eye and
with a lighted instrument such as otoscope
May use body systems approach, head-totoe approach, or a combination of 2, but
should be SYSTEMATIC.
Nurses frequently use visual inspection to
assess moisture, color, and texture of body
surfaces, as well as shape, position, size,
color, and symmetry of the body

PALPATION
Is the examination of the body using the sense
of touch
Using the palms, finger, and tips of the fingers
Used to determine:

Texture (e.g. of the hair)

Temperature (e.g. of skin area)
Vibration ( e.g. of a joint)
Position, size, consistency, and mobility of
organs or masses
Distention (e.g. of the urinary bladder)
Pulsation
Presence of pain upon pressure

PERCUSSION
Act of striking a body surface to elicit sounds
that can be heard or vibrations that can be felt
DIRECT PERCUSSION: the nurse strikes the area
to be percussed directly with the pads of two,
three, or four fingers or with the pad of the
middle finger
INDIRECT PERCUSSION: is the striking of an
object (e.g. finger) held against the body area to
be examined
Used to determine the size and shape of internal
organs by establishing their borders whether
tissue is fluid filled, air filled, or solid

5 TYPES OF SOUND
FLATNESS extremely dull sound produced
by very dense tissue such as muscle or bone
DULLNESS thudlike sound produced by
dense tissue such as liver, spleen, or heart.
RESONANCE- is a hollow sound such as that
produces by lungs filled with air
HYPERRESONANCE- is not produced on a
normal body
- booming and can be heard over an
emphysematous lung
TYMPANY- is a musical or drumlike sound
produced from an air-filled stomach

AUSCULTATION
Is the process of listening to sounds
produced within the body
DIRECT AUSCULTATION: use of unaided ear
(listen to a respiration wheeze or the
grating of a moving joint)
INDIRECT AUSCULTATION- use of the
stethoscope, which transmits the sounds
to the nurses ears

AUSCULTATED SOUNDS
PITCH frequency of the vibrations
INTENSITY (amplitude) refers to the
loudness or softness of a sound
DURATION of a sound is its length
QUALITY sound is a subjective of a sound,
for example, whistling, gurgling, or snapping

REVIEW OF SYSTEMS
GORDONS TYPOLOGY OF FUNCTIONAL HEALTH
PATTERNS
1. Health-perception/health management pattern
2. Nutritional/metabolic pattern
3. Elimination pattern
4. Activity/exercise pattern
5. Sleep-rest pattern
6. Cognitive/perceptual pattern
7. Self-perception/self-concept pattern
8. Role/relationship pattern
9. Sexuality/reproductive pattern
10. Coping/stress tolerance pattern
11. Value/belief pattern