Skillful Coaching: New Directions In Teaching Health Assessment

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine differences in nursing student’s assessment skills before and after the implementation of a cognitive apprenticeship didactic approach including think-aloud and critical dialogue.  In the nursing care of clients, a through and accurate holistic health assessment is essential.  The content of the assessment task is taught in all nursing programs.  Students must be competent not only in performing the examination but also in evaluating the information obtained and integrating it with the health history and lab findings.  This extensive criteria makes assessment a challenging skill to master.  Problems arise when students in nursing attempt to apply the theoretical assessment approaches to the clinical setting with real clients.  Consequently, student’s performance outcomes are often unsatisfactory, as the teaching format usually focuses on the students’ acquisition of domain knowledge and psychomotor skills rather than on shaping the thinking processes involved.  Students’ common problems with physical assessment shows that they struggle to manipulate the abstract positions involved.