Nurses’ Opinions About Physical Assesment Skills and Applications

Aim: This study was conducted to determine nurses’ physical assessment skills and applications in patient care. Material and Methods: This descriptive study was conducted with 125 nurses working at adult clinics and intensive care units in a private university hospital. The data were collected using a 26-item questionnaire that assesses physical assessment practices and their awareness. Results: 97.6% of nurses reported that they have knowledge about physical assessment. 79.5% of them defined as assessment of whole body systems. Nurses described most necessary physical assessment skills as vital signs (97.6%), edema (96.8%), monitoring skin turgor (92.8%), pupil response (92.8%), eye movements (90.4%), mouth/oral assessment (92.0%). Conclusions: It was determined that the majority of the nurses have knowledge about the physical assessment skills but after graduation, this knowledge was limited to basic physical assessment skills. We recommend that practical training and in-service training programs focusing on physical assessment skills including skill techniques should be organized.