Holistic Assessment Essay

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The purpose of this essay is to describe the holistic assessment of a 78 years old patient who has been admitted to an acute cardiac (mixed) Ward, after experiencing severe chest pain at home. All of his personal data and information has been changed to comply with the NMC Code (2008) Confidentiality section and Data Protection Act (1998). John Doe pseudonym will be used on the SAP (Single Assessment Process) form. In this essay I will use the Single Assessment Form for holistic assessment and I will explain why communication and record keeping are so important. The definition of the word “holistic” will be described. Learning about holistic assessment made me aware of the importance of noting all the information about the patient's condition, not only physical but also the emotional, psychological and other factors in order to get a complete assessment. Several nursing priorities will be identified and explained, then a nursing priority will be chosen to explain in detail. This nursing priority will be the “Up to date pharmacological treatments of Chronic Heart Failure (CHF).” A scenario will be used that is based on a real patient, and I will explain all the relevant medical information, eg. CHF, STEMI and NSTEMI, ECG, Biomarkers, vital signs and pharmacotherapy. The effects and side effects of the medication used in the scenario will be explained, also the recording of the entire process. The importance of discharge planning and lifestyle changes will be addressed. Assessment is the foundation of nursing process and accurate data collection identifies the client's health status and how it helps nursing diagnosis. The patient's family, carers and their social circumstances also need to be regarded. The patient's response to health problems can be biophysical, sociocultural, psychological or spiritual in nature (Cristensen,1990 P.55). This multi focal way of

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