The experience I have gained by taking this course is critical in advancing my knowledge, not only in assessment but also in making critical decisions that are necessary for healthcare decision making processes. With the emphasis on the evidence-based practices for nurses and healthcare staff, engaging in physical examination and assessment was the best activity that could boost my knowledge and also understanding on health promotion and disease prevention which are part of this course. Most critical for my growth in this course was the virtual simulation that was part of the course that gave me a first-hand experience on some of the assessment activities. The virtual simulation was critical in creating an environment where I could experience the assessment and engage in the process, thereby giving a reliable platform to assess my knowledge and progress in the course. With the weekly physical assessment and self-reflection activities that I did after every module, I feel that I have sharpened my knowledge and skills, and my attitude is positive about the course.
I had numerous good experiences during the learning, which I can cite to be the turning point on my attitude, skills, and also knowledge on this course. Most of the best moments during the learning were the physical assessments, which I took part and which, by using the simulation practice, were critical in enhancing my knowledge and attitude towards understanding the importance of this course to my nursing career. The first was physical skin assessment. It was an area where I had not given much emphasis before I took part in this course. However, it stood as my surprising moments when I came to understand that by assessing the patient's skins, I could learn more about the patients' demographics and different health conditions that were affecting the patients. I came to note that by assessing the patient’s skin, I could define the patient’s health conditions. For example, by palpating and inspecting the nails, I could determine health conditions such as clubbing, which is most common among patients with chronic hypoxia . It was surprising to me, therefore, that such assessment was critical for a nurse as they could reveal vital information that was suitable for diagnosing a particular disease.
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Also, I had a narrow understanding of the importance of assessing the patient's hair and how it was best done. Moreover, I did not understand well the need to perform hair assessment in a patient until I did a simulation on physical hair assessment and realize how it was critical for nurses in defining the healthcare status of a patient. For instance, I came to understand that I can inspect the patient's hair by palpating, and this could provide me with a lot of information about the patient's skin mostly around areas where the hair grows. I understood that I could s eparate the hair into sections and lift it, observing the scalp, and this was critical as it could allow me to assess whether the patients have lesions or pests. Through the hair inspection, I was surprised that I could observe different conditions such as dandruff, and this would be critical in assessing the patient skin conditions.
Also, I felt that I have much improvement regarding skills and knowledge on inspecting the different abdominal problems such as stomach bubble after I completed a simulation about the Gastrointestinal Assessment in module six. Despite having some experience of the importance of the gastrointestinal assessment for patients, I never understood that simple activities such as palpating the bowel and listening to its sound or feeling its texture were as critical as I came to realize during the simulation. The fact that I could use such simple action to understand the stomach conditions and also diagnose some gastrointestinal diseases was surprising and intriguing to me. I felt that I know more if I could do such an assessment of a patient, and this played a significant role in changing my attitude towards this course entirely.
My reflection on module seven on the m usculoskeletal and neurological was a critical point in my study. Although understood the need to understand different means of doing a musculoskeletal assessment, this course introduced me to understanding the importance of assessing the skull and using such results to make clinical assumptions and diagnosis of different conditions relating to the scalp. Inspecting and palpating the head, which was part of the assessment during the simulation, was critical in defining the scale's size and shape. I also realized the assessment was crucial in analyzing the temporal artery above the zygomatic bone between the eye and the top ear. The evaluation can help in understanding different diseases that can help the scalp and the head in general.
Assessing the respiratory system was also a critical point during this lesson, and this was also a good experience during this course. During this simulation, I had an opportunity to do crucial assessment such as those of ventilation that includes observations of the rate, depth, and pattern of respirations . An accurate assessment of respiration depends on recognizing regular thoracic and abdominal movements. I also got an interest in observing the patterns of the breadth during this time and how it was critical in understanding different respiratory diseases. I also came to understand how such activities were crucial to differentiate the problem of both upper and lower respiratory. These were ideas and events that I had not done before, and therefore I had little knowledge and experience regarding them. However, my knowledge and attitudes towards this cause improved considerably after taking such simulations.
The last simulation that also had a critical impact on me during this study was the assessment simulation I did on the cardiovascular system. Some of the critical Examination that valued during this physical examination was the assessment of vital signs and jugular venous pulse, chest inspection and palpation, and, most importantly, auscultation of the heart. All these were critical areas that were important in improving my knowledge and understanding of this system.
Therefore, taking this course and the simulation that was part of this course was critical in improving my knowledge and understanding of different assessment techniques and the importance they had in understanding the patients’ health conditions. Despite knowing some of this assessment before taking this course, I never understood the impact it could have on my practice. Therefore, I did not give it much attention because I undervalued its significance. However, such attitude changed substantially because of the physical assessments and the simulation that I undertook during the course. I came to understand the value such assessments had on my practice. I came to understand that by doing such an assessment, I could understand and diagnose a particular disease. I also came to note that I could understand the patient more by doing different physical examinations on different parts of the body. Therefore, the simulation was critical and changed my attitude about the course in general.
