Advanced Health Assessment

Course Description

This is a theory/laboratory course designed to help advanced nurse practitioner students develop advanced clinical assessment skills and diagnostic reasoning appropriate for advanced clinical practice. Building on undergraduate coursework and previous clinical experience, this course utilizes life span development and health risk appraisal frameworks as the basis for health assessment. This allows the learner to differentiate the normal anatomic and physiologic variation across the lifespan. Health assessment skills and interviewing techniques are practiced with fellow students and human simulators. Students must participate and pass an on-campus intensive to pass the course.

Objectives

1.Obtains and accurately documents a relevant health history and comprehensive or symptom-focused physical examinations for simulated patients of all ages and in all phases of the individual and family life cycle.

2.Evaluates data obtained in the health assessment to make ethical evidence-based recommendations for health promotion and disease prevention in select populations.

3.Utilizes appropriate health assessment techniques and clinical reasoning in the collection, analysis, and communication of health assessment findings across the life span.

4. Communicates health assessment data in a clear, organized manner through oral presentation, written and electronic documentation formats.

5.Determines modifications to be used in populations in a variety of settings throughout the life span taking into consideration developmental, cultural, spiritual, psychosocial, environmental, and ethnic variations.