Building a Health History Discussion

Building a Health History Discussion

Discussion: Building a Health History

Effective communication is vital to constructing an accurate and detailed patient history. A patient’s health or illness is influenced by many factors, including age, gender, ethnicity, and environmental setting. As an advanced practice nurse, you must be aware of these factors and tailor your communication techniques accordingly. Doing so will not only help you establish rapport with your patients, but it will also enable you to more effectively gather the information needed to assess your patients’ health risks.

For this Discussion, you will take on the role of a clinician who is building a health history for a particular new patient assigned by your instructor.

To prepare:

With the information presented in Chapter 1 of Ball et al. in mind, consider the following:

By Day 1 of this week, you will be assigned a new patient profile by your Instructor for this Discussion. Note: Please see the “Course Announcements” section of the classroom for your new patient profile assignment.

How would your communication and interview techniques for building a health history differ with each patient?

How might you target your questions for building a health history based on the patient’s social determinants of health?

What risk assessment instruments would be appropriate to use with each patient, or what questions would you ask each patient to assess his or her health risks?

Identify any potential health-related risks based upon the patient’s age, gender, ethnicity, or environmental setting that should be taken into consideration.

Select one of the risk assessment instruments presented in Chapter 1 or Chapter 5 of the Seidel’s Guide to Physical Examination text, or another tool with which you are familiar, related to your selected patient.

Develop at least five targeted questions you would ask your selected patient to assess his or her health risks and begin building a health history

Respond to at least two of your colleagues on 2 different days who selected a different patient than you, using one or more of the following approaches:

Share additional interview and communication techniques that could be effective with your colleague’s selected patient.

Suggest additional health-related risks that might be considered.

Validate an idea with your own experience and additional research.

1- Respond to colleague one scenario:

76-year-old black male with disabilities living in an urban setting.

The patient in the assigned scenario is described as a 76-year-old African American male with disabilities living in an urban setting. Having a detailed health history and physical exam can help practitioners to make appropriate healthcare decisions that improve patient outcomes. Advanced Practice Nurses must use interview and communication techniques that are specific to the patient being interviewed. Establishing a positive patient relationship depends on communication built on courtesy, comfort, connection, and confirmation (Ball, Dains, Flynn, Solomon, & Stewart, 2019).