Abstract
Physical assessment (PA) is utilized by healthcare professionals to gather important information about their patients. PA can enhance pharmacy practice in many ways. Each skill requires practice to master, some more than others. Inspection, palpation, percussion, and auscultation are the main modes of PA. They should be performed in this order, but it is not always necessary to carry out each of these activities every time. PA is performed in conjunction with health history taking, and the general survey, and together they comprise the overall health assessment of the patient. The general survey is carried out through inspection, where one deliberately takes note of the patient’s appearance, behavior, and mobility. It can be performed while speaking with the patient. Level of consciousness (LOC) and orientation are assessed during this step. The next step is a review of systems (ROS), where one considers each part of the body to identify problems, usually in a sequential manner moving from head to toe. It often begins with measurement or consideration of the vital signs (blood pressure, heart rate, temperature, respiratory rate, and oxygen saturation). The review of systems involves gathering data through PA, asking focused questions, and incorporating data collected by other healthcare professionals. Examples of body systems to review include neurological/psychiatric/mental status, HEENT (head, eyes, ears, nose, and throat), dermatological, respiratory, cardiovascular/peripheral vascular, GI (gastrointestinal), renal, genitourinary, musculoskeletal, and lab work/microbiology. Data gathered through PA enhances pharmaceutical care through providing a more in-depth assessment of the patient, which better allows for identification and resolution of drug related problems.
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Glashan, E., Eberhardt, T., Mahmoud, S.H. (2019). Physical Assessment for Pharmacists. In: Mahmoud, S. (eds) Patient Assessment in Clinical Pharmacy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11775-7_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11775-7_3
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