Question

in social work:

● What should you think about/do when preparing to meet with a new client?

● What skills are most relevant to the engagement and/or assessment stage of

practice?

● How do we conduct assessments? What tools are used? How does assessment look different by setting, population, short-term vs. long-term work, etc.

● Does assessment have a finite start and finish? Why/why not?

Answer 1

*** When preparing to meet a new client, the nurse should have a general idea about the client, their area of living and environmental status.

He/She should have all the equipments ready for a proper assessment.

The nurse should have a proper plan about what all assessment to be done and what all details need to be collected.

He/ she should have proper communication skills and should know the client's language.

*** A nurse should need the following skills in proper assessment:

- communication skills

- proper assessment skills

- Nurse should have knowledge about the client's disease condition and it's management

- Observation skills/ identification skills

- practical skills- this includes his / her to ability perform needed care for the client

*** Assessment is conducted by observation, history collection and using various tools to get the vital signs and other data of the client.

Tools used in assessment includes the following:

- Thermometer, BP apparatus, Glucometer, Inch tape, weighing scale , fetoscope to asses an antenatal mother, urine dipstick to perform urine test.

Assessment may vary based on the settings, population, short term Vs long term work etc..

If assessment is done in a client's home that client alone is focused and individual care is given for the client. While if it is done in other area like clinic or primary hospital many individuals will be coming for treatment and the assessment method may vary. The nurse cannot focus only the problem of one client, every client need to be assessed equally within the available period of time.

Also, as the number of population increases their is only limited period of time for assessment. One individual only cannot be focused. Every individual need to be assessed and the treatment may vary for each individual. The nurse should be really skilled to perform the assessment and treatment.

When it comes to short term Vs long term works, some assessment can be completed within limited period of time, while others need days based on the disease condition. In short term works, assessment and management may finish within 2 or 3 days. But in long terms work, client need to be followed up regularly until the disease settles. In such cases, assessment should be done regularly to identify the disease progression or the effectiveness of treatment.

*** No, Assessment doesn't have a finite start and finish. This is because whenever a nurse plan to meet a client, her assessment starsts there. There is no particular timing for it. Also, the assessment cannot be finished suddenly. Even after starting the treatment assessment need to be continued to identify the effectiveness of treatment. Also, even if the client has recovered from a disease still assessment need to be performed once in while to identify any chances of re- occurring of the disease.