Health Assessment Digital Clinical Experiences™

Rochelle Joseph is a 41-year-old female who presents to the OB-GYN office for her 32-week pregnancy follow-up, complaining of fatigue following a recent mitral valve prolapse (MVP) diagnosis. 

Students will perform a focused history and physical examination of the cardiovascular system. They will assess a pregnant patient with a known cardiac condition, including auscultation of a mitral murmur. 

Assignment highlights

• Focused Exam: Assess the cardiovascular system to collect relevant subjective and objective information to guide care. 

• Pregnancy Assessment Variations: Consider physiological changes during pregnancy when conducting the physical assessment.

Martin Francis is a 48-year-old male who presents to the Emergency Department with abdominal symptoms after recent travel and exposure to norovirus. 

Students will perform a focused history and physical examination of the abdominal system, completing an assessment on a patient with increased body habitus, noting hyperactive bowel sounds and diffuse tenderness upon palpation. 

Assignment highlights

•  Focused Exam: assess the abdominal system to collect relevant subjective and objective information to guide care. 

• Exposure Recognition: recognize that presenting symptoms are related to exposure to a highly communicable disease. 

Samuel Green is a 75-year-old male patient who presents to the Emergency Department with bilateral foot pain, unsteady gait and memory loss. 

Students will perform a focused history and physical examination of the neurological system. They will assess a patient with peripheral neuropathy and short-term memory loss related to chemotherapy. 

Assignment highlights

• Focused Exam: assess the neurological system to collect relevant subjective and objective information to guide the patient’s care. 

• Exam Complexity: complete a complex examination with multiple abnormal findings. 

Tina Jones is a 28-year-old African American woman who presented to the emergency department for evaluation of a right foot injury and was admitted for IV antibiotics. Students will be evaluated on their ability to use the patient’s context to construct a health interview and document their findings in the EHR. 

Assignment highlights

• Health History Exam 

• Identify any applicable nursing diagnoses using evidence from the data you collected 

• Plan how to best address the identified diagnoses with further assessment, nursing interventions, and patient education 

• Write reflections using the prompts provided 

• Post exam activities for learners to interpret the findings from the patient interview 

Esther Park presents with abdominal pain at Shadow General Hospital. Students will conduct a focused history and physical examination, asking about psychosocial factors related to the gastrointestinal system, including diet, toilet habits, immunizations, and travel history. They will also gather a surgical, reproductive, and sexual history, carefully observing verbal and non-verbal cues as she displays discomfort during palpation.

Assignment highlights

• Multi-System Exam: Assess the abdominal system (primary), and genitourinary and cardiovascular systems (secondary) to rule out causes. 

• Exam Order Review: Review the correct order of actions in a focused abdominal exam.

Six months have passed since Tina Jones was admitted to Shadow General Hospital, and her foot wound has healed. She has come to the clinic requesting a complete health assessment for a pre-employment physical. 

In this simulation, students will perform a comprehensive, head-to-toe assessment on Ms. Jones to demonstrate their clinical competency. 

Assignment highlights

• Plan My Exam activity: students practice organizing possible exam actions into a sequence that moves smoothly from head to toe prior to performing their assessment.  

Assignment highlights

• Review of Normal Sounds: bronchial, bronchovesicular, vesicular. 

• Review of Abnormal Sounds: decreased breath sounds, increased breath sounds, crackles (fine), crackles (coarse), rhonchi, wheezing, stridor. 

Rachel Adler presents to the clinic for her annual physical. She is energetic, has no major health concerns and is honest about her health history.

Students will explore how to structure interviews by asking open- and closed- ended questions. They will apply these concepts by completing a health history interview, rule out medication allergies and confirm her peanut allergy. They will ask about a variety of psychosocial factors including cigarette smoking, peer pressure and energy drink consumption.

Assignment highlights

• Structured Introduction: complete a tutorial on how to gather relevant and detailed subjective data, including types of interview questions and asking follow-up questions.