Short Course in History Taking and Physical Assess

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Why choose the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Education

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98% of our Nursing graduates are in graduate-level employment (Guardian, 2024)

100% of Health graduates went into highly skilled employment or further education (HESA, 2023)

£5,000 a year available with the NHS bursary.

About the course

This course will help you, as a healthcare practitioner with full (not associate) professional registration involved in practice to be equipped with the knowledge and skills to undertake a clear and concise physical assessment of the adult patient appropriate to your area of practice. You will be shown how to use a range of structured and semi structured tools to assess the client’s physical, mental and social health status and to develop an appropriate care plan including appropriate referrals.

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Course Leader - Rachel Bruce

I have been a registered adult nurse for thirty years, specialising in the community. I have been a Rehabilitation Nurse, District Nurse, Community Matron and Team leader.

I took up my position as a lecturer within the field of healthcare practice, specialising in District Nursing in 2015.

More recently I have progresses to senior lecturer within this field branching also into Mentorship education and pre-registration nurse education.

I am passionate about education within nursing and enjoy adopting a creative and innovative approach to my teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate level.

Find out more about Rachel Bruce

What will you study?

History Taking & Physical Assessment Of Adults

This unit aims to equip you with the knowledge and skills to undertake a clear and concise physical and psychosocial history appropriate to your area of practice. You will be shown how to use a range of structured and semi structured tools to assess the client’s physical, mental and social health status and make an appropriate referral.

You will be encouraged to foster inter-professional working practices and to communicate effectively with colleagues and the patient to prevent repetition of data and to facilitate the creation of a single assessment process.

This unit aims to help you to develop the ability to engage patients and carers in the assessment process, empowering them to make key decisions, at the point of assessment. As practitioners you will be expected to appreciate the implications of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 for the assessment process.

How will you be assessed?

This course requires you to demonstrate the skills, attitudes and practices of a clinician competent in physical assessment skills, and this will be done through the production of a poster and an OSCE (both summative).

Careers

The skills, knowledge and experience that you gain on this course will equip you to understand the concepts of ethics of care, legal aspects of professional code of conduct, advocacy, accountability, confidentiality.

The practical learning enables you to develop a range of assessment methods and diagnostic tools to aid clinical decision making.

You will develop the ability to conduct a thorough patient assessment. This is a fundamental skill in clinical practice. This course enables you not only to develop core assessment skills but also to understand the evidence base for these, assisting you in developing your advanced role.

You will have the opportunity to network and to share examples of good practice with other professionals. Gaining this qualification means that you are seen as taking a lead in developing a learning culture within your area of practice, ensuring evidence based, safe and effective practice amongst students and the wider team.