The Safe Clinical Assessment: a patient safety focused approach to clinical assessment

Medical consultations are complex and multi-faceted, requiring that nurses develop a sound knowledge and skill base in a wide variety of different areas, from communication skills to clinical reasoning and from physical assessment skills to prescription writing. Clinical assessment is an integral part of the medical consultation process, although it is often taught as a stand-alone module in nurse education programmes, such that nurses at different levels in their training will learn these skills. This article describes how patient safety skills and practices can be incorporated into clinical assessment teaching for nurses at all levels of training but especially within training programmes for Emergency Nurse Practitioners, Nurse Practitioners and for nurses involved in the assessment and management of patients with minor illnesses.