Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 4, 2026

11:05
SECONDs Administration Guidelines: A Fast Tool to Assess Consciousness in Brain-injured Patients
Published on: February 6, 2021
Assessing mental status. With these challenging patients, you'll need facts, not opinions
Steven Grayson1, William E Gandy
1Acadian Ambulance, Louisiana, USA.
EMS World
|February 12, 2011
Abstract:
A patient with diminished mental status must be evaluated carefully to rule out organic or traumatic reasons for the condition, as well as to identify possible causes, such as drug ingestion.
Related Concept Videos
Patient-centered Care
Patient-centered care involves delivering care beyond inpatient hospitalization. Reflective practice can enhance a patient-centered approach. Reflective practice is a process of reasoning that considers all aspects of the present situation, including practicalities, learning from personal practice, and consideration of patient needs. Patients appreciate care decisions made while considering their input. Involving the patient in their care provides the patient with a sense of contribution rather...
Nursing Assessment
The two sources for collecting information are primary and secondary. After gathering information, interpretation and validation help to complete the data. The purpose of assessment is to establish data with the initial information, to interpret data about the patient's perceived needs and health problems, and to respond to these problems identified.
The nurse collects all aspects of the patient's health in the initial assessment, establishing priorities for ongoing focused assessments and...
The nurse collects all aspects of the patient's health in the initial assessment, establishing priorities for ongoing focused assessments and...
Data Collection III
The physical assessment examines the patient for objective data that defines the patient's condition, and aids in formulating the nursing care plan. The purpose of physical assessment is a health status appraisal, which includes identifying health problems, and establishing a database for nursing intervention.
The principles to begin the physical assessment include conducting a comprehensive or problem-related history in a quiet, well-lit room, emphasizing privacy and comfort for the patient.
The principles to begin the physical assessment include conducting a comprehensive or problem-related history in a quiet, well-lit room, emphasizing privacy and comfort for the patient.
Critical Thinking II
Critical thinking is a cognitive process with several attributes. The attributes of critical thinking include the following:
Data Reporting and Recording
Reporting and recording are crucial in data documentation. The timely, thorough, and accurate documentation of facts is essential when recording patient data. Failure to record findings during an assessment or interpretation of a problem will result in loss of information and make the patient document unreliable. The reader is left with general impressions if the information is not specific. A recording is documenting data of the individual's health information in a traceable, secure, and...
Data Collection I
Data collection gathers information needed to make accurate judgments about a patient's present condition. During a health history interview, subjective data is collected from the patient, their caregivers, or family members, and objective data is collected through observations and physical assessment. Patients are the primary source of subjective data. Thus information gathered from patients through interviews, observations, and physical examination is primary data. Secondary sources of data...

