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Successful treatment of the patients involves a thorough evaluation process. Nurses play an essential role in successfully analyzing patients for effective diagnosis, treatment, and management of diseases. During the analysis process, nurses assess some factors leading to the change in symptoms and help develop effective management and prevention approaches to help deal with the symptoms. Nurses are directly involved in assisting patients with the self-management of their symptoms and ensuring an ongoing monitoring process (Toronto & Remington, 2020). The theory of unpleasant symptoms is among the essential strategies to assist nurses in effectively evaluating a patient’s system. The procedure is essential since it reveals some key elements of symptoms that guide nursing practice.
The nurses consider several elements when searching for a tool to evaluate a patient’s symptoms. The first important aspect that nurses look for is the self-reported symptoms that must be present in the assessment tool. The self-reported symptoms enable a nurse to collect information that helps derive the effects of the disease and treatment from the self-reported symptoms. The selected assessment tool used for the patient’s symptoms must contain different factors that impact the symptoms reported by the patient. When using the theory of unpleasant symptoms to determine the perfect assessment tool for patient symptoms, it is crucial to check for essential sections or areas of focus by the theory. For example, the theory focuses on the symptoms that it later defines subjectively as reported by the client. The theory then evaluates the factors that affect the symptoms, for example, gender, age, and the variables connected to the illness (Blackman, 2019). These are essential factors impacting the perception of the patient’s symptoms. This theory also concentrates on the social and physical environment that affects the symptoms presented by the patient.
Consequently, the assessment technique must also consider other factors like physiology, the changes in the circumstances, growth, and development, especially in children. This information is essential since they inform the nurse about the patient’s condition. The theory emphasizes the evaluation tool used by the nurses and that such tools must always consider variables impacting the patients’ symptoms (Blackman, 2019). The variables to be considered when selecting the tool are language, culture, age, and gender.
In conclusion, while selecting the tool for assessing a patient’s symptoms, it is the nurse’s responsibility to ensure that various factors are considered. The strategy involves an evaluation tool that considers self-reported symptoms. A nurse uses self-reported symptoms to determine how a patient is affected by a disease and the course of treatment. It is also essential to consider other variables affecting the symptoms.
References
Blakeman, J. R. (2019). An integrative review of the theory of unpleasant symptoms. Journal of advanced nursing, 75(5), 946-961.
Toronto, C. E., & Remington, R. (Eds.). (2020). A step-by-step guide to conducting an integrative review. Cham, Swizterland: Springer International Publishing.
