Physical Assessment of a Child versus an Adult

Physical Assessment of a Child versus an Adult

In conducting a physical assessment for a child and an adult, the process starts with collecting the identification data, which is followed by noting down the chief complaint. For both cases, information on the medical, treatment, and family history is collected. An interview is needed in both cases to establish relationships between the nurse and the child or adult. Listening and communication are important in both cases to explain the purpose of the exercise. The nurses, in both cases, are required to establish comfort and trust to gain the necessary results.

Conducting physical assessments on adults is easy because they can provide information about themselves. Children, on the other hand, require skill and patience since they should be engaged as appropriate to age. Most information about the child is provided by the caregiver or parent. For children, different reasoning strategies are required to convince them to cope with painful procedures, take medication, and have different cognitive abilities and different physical skills, which depend on motor development (Grand Canyon University (Ed). 2018). Adults have consistent clinical, physical, cognitive, and emotional ranges, which makes the process simple.

The patterns of pathology in adults are different from those in children since any risk of injury affects them differently. Logical explanations can be used when discussing a procedure with an adult patient. The case is totally different for children since most information is directed to the caregiver or the parent (Duderstadt, 2017). Relying on intuition and keen assessment skills are important for pediatric nurses. The complicated medical history for adults is important in physical assessments. Children, on the other hand, have a limited medical history, and less complex histories make it easier to conduct physical assessments.

When conducting physical assessment for both cases, speaking simply and clearly, depending on the patient’s age, is important. Simple sentences, genuine compliments as well as avoiding wordy medical terms are essential when offering explanations (Kohtz et al. 2017). Being honest with the patients about the exercise develops trust. Being positive and keeping promises would help the nurse encourage engagement. Attentively listening to the patient’s comments and answering all questions asked makes the child or adult feel important.

References

Duderstadt, K. (2017). Pediatric Physical Examination-E-Book: An Illustrated Handbook. Elsevier Health Sciences.

Grand Canyon University (Ed). (2018). Health assessment: Foundations for effective practice. Retrieved from https://lc.gcumedia.com/nrs434vn/health-assessment-foundations-for- effective-practice/v1.1/

Kohtz, C., Brown, S. C., Williams, R., & O’Connor, P. A. (2017). Physical Assessment Techniques in Nursing Education: A Replicated Study. Journal of Nursing Education, 56(5), 287-291.

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE

We’ll write everything from scratch

---

Compare the physical assessment of a child to that of an adult. In addition to describing the similar/different aspects of the physical assessment,

explain how the nurse would offer instruction during the assessment, how communication would be adapted to offer explanations, and what strategies the nurse would use to encourage engagement.