Monitoring and Assessment

Monitoring and assessment are fundamental nursing procedures. Routine and more specialist observations are used to ensure patients' comfort, assess their condition and monitor their progress. These observations can be essential to patients' recovery or to preventing further ill health.

This section of Nursingtimes.net looks at the main monitoring and assessment procedures, including information such as:

  • Why they are needed
  • Normal values
  • Equipment needed
  • Recording the information
  • The procedure
  • Frequency

The section also includes information on common diagnostic tests, explaining why they are undertaken and the nursing considerations for each.

 

Assessment procedures

Blood pressure

The use of body measurements to assess nutritional status

Eye care

Fluid balance

Mouth care

Neurological observations

Nutrition and eating disorders

Nutritional screening and assessment

Respiratory assessment

Temperature

 

Diagnostic tests

CT scanning

Lumbar puncture

Magnetic resonance imaging

Urine testing

X-ray examination