Nursing assessment has a significant role in providing effective, accurate and safe nursing care in clinical practice. Nursing assessment is the first stage of the Nursing Process. It is used to explore the physical, psychological, spiritual and social aspect of the patient’s life. It is therefore a holistic and systematic guide for nurses to obtain a greater understanding of their patient’s wants and needs. It is the underlying foundation of the process, on which other phases of the process are based upon (Foster & Hawkins, 2005).
The nursing assessment is the foundation to building a therapeutic patient-nurse relationship. The patient-nurse relationship begins to form at the first encounter. Nursing assessment is the first encounter between patient and nurse. First impressions are made and these judgements can greatly affect how a client perceives a nurse (Patrick, 2013). Through this initial assessment, the nurse can obtain information that is crucial in providing the client with effective holistic care. Nursing assessment framework tools are used to help the nurse obtain accurate information about the patient’s wants and needs. This initial assessment based on subjective and objective data, helps to determine the patient’s actual problems and potential problems (Weber & Kelley, 2013).
An assessment is carried out to obtain objective data and a physical baseline of the patient on admission. This includes obtaining a weight, height, a complete set of vital signs and a