NU 128 - Physical Assessment for Nurses

Credit Hours: 3

This is a three-credit course designed to prepare the student with a beginning knowledge base to perform a physical assessment on an adult. A basic understanding of the anatomy and physiology of the human organism is expected.

The course content includes an introduction to basic physical assessment techniques, history taking, and assessment of the following body systems: skin, head, neck, eye, ear, thorax, lungs, heart, abdomen, reproductive including breast, neurological, musculoskeletal, and urinary. The course will relate differences in physical assessment techniques and findings in the pediatric and geriatric clients as well. Laboratory time will provided for students to practice each skill as discussed, under faculty supervision.

Course Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

utilize interviewing techniques to obtain a reliable health history from a selected client;
identify the proper techniques used in performing a physical assessment of an adult client;
identify cultural considerations and variations in obtaining a health history and physical assessment of a client;
identify variations in the physical assessment of the pediatric client;
identify variations in the physical assessment of the elderly client;
differentiate between normal variations and pathologic findings in the assessment of each of the various body systems;
communicate health assessment findings in an acceptable manner; and
demonstrate skill in the assessment of a body system.

Corequisites: EN 100, NU 116, NU 117 or NU 120
F/S (C, N)