The patient is brought to the emergency department following an accident with significant burns. The patient is conscious and alert with 3rd-degree burns over 50% of his body. The nurse helps to get a history and perform a thorough physical examination of this patient. Which type of assessment is the nurse performing?

Question

Accepted Answer

Secondary. A history and physical examination of the patient are part of the secondary assessment in the emergency room. The secondary assessment follows after both the primary assessment and the treatment for any problems discovered during the primary assessment. The purpose of the secondary assessment is to identify any medical conditions or injuries not found as part of the primary assessment and consists of obtaining a thorough history, physical examination, pain assessment, and neurologic assessment. The primary assessment is performed when the patient is first brought into the emergency room and consists of checking the ABCs and identifying, evaluating, and treating any obvious life-threatening conditions. Triage is not part of the assessment for a patient in the emergency room. It is a system for the initial classification and prioritization of patients based on severity of injury. General assessment refers to the patient history and physical assessment that takes place in a non-emergency setting.

Want help? View the answer with rationale.

Rationale

Additional Management of Care Questions

Nursing Careers

Nursing Degrees

NCLEX