Clinical meaning
Physical assessment is the cornerstone of nursing practice, enabling the practical nurse to collect objective data about a patient's health status through a systematic, head-to-toe approach. The assessment process relies on four fundamental techniques performed in a specific order: inspection (visual examination), palpation (using touch to assess texture, temperature, moisture, organ location, and presence of masses or tenderness), percussion (tapping body surfaces to determine underlying structure density -- resonance over air-filled lung, dullness over solid organs, tympany over hollow organs), and auscultation (listening with a stethoscope for heart sounds, breath sounds, bowel sounds, and vascular bruits). The practical nurse must establish baseline assessment data during initial patient contact and perform focused reassessments at regular intervals and whenever the patient's condition changes. Assessment findings are documented using objective, measurable terminology and communicated to the healthcare team using standardized frameworks such as SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation). Accurate assessment requires understanding of normal anatomy and physiology, age-related variations, and cultural considerations that may influence findings.