Summary
The purpose of pre-service nursing education programs is to prepare competent graduates
who are able to function as safe, professional registered nurses. An extensive element
of these programs is the teaching of physical assessment skills, with most programs
educating students to perform over 120 such skills. Previous research from North America
suggests that the majority of skills taught to nurses in their pre-service programs
are not used in practice. As part of a larger study, an online survey was used to
explore use of 121 physical assessment skills by Australian nurses. Recruitment occurred
via mailed invitation to members of the Australian Nursing Federation. Data were extracted
from 1220 completed questionnaires returned by nurses who were mostly employed in
New South Wales, were female and experienced nurses. Respondents indicated that they
used only 34% of skills routinely. Results reinforce evidence found in the literature
that many of the skills taught to nurses are either not used at all (35.5%) or are
used rarely (31%). These findings have implications for the teaching of physical assessment
skills in pre-service nursing programs, and raise questions about the value of extensive
skills teaching in the context of contemporary health care. Further research into
barriers to the use of physical assessment skills in nursing and the need for comprehensive
skills preparation for the generalist nurse is likely to offer some solutions to these
questions.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 23, 2012
Accepted:
February 21,
2012
Received in revised form:
February 20,
2012
Received:
December 14,
2011
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 Australian College of Nursing Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
