Faculty Perceptions of the Importance of Physical Assessment Skills Taught in Prelicensure Nursing Education

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Physical assessment skills are key components of nursing practice. On average, nurses perform a head-to-toe assessment 4 times during a shift. The frequency and importance of this technique have resulted in controversy in determining the essential components of assessment to ensure readiness for practice. PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to explore the perceived importance by faculty for physical assessment skills taught in prelicensure nursing education programs. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study using a 136-item questionnaire. The sample was nursing faculty (n = 402) teaching in an accredited nursing program in the United States. RESULTS: Among the physical assessment skill categories, integumentary (4.57 ± 0.51), central nervous (4.29 ± 0.62), and cardiovascular (4.20 ± 0.51) systems had the highest mean scores for the perceived level of importance of skill categories to be taught to prelicensure nursing students. CONCLUSION: The data suggest that faculty perceive physical assessment skills associated with the integumentary, central nervous, and cardiovascular systems to be the most critical skills taught in a nursing assessment course.