Health Assessment Course Builds Upon Nursing Majors Foundational Skills

York College’s Nursing Program combines the education and clinical experience students need to enter practice as a beginning professional nurse. Health Assessment 304, which is offered every minimester and fall semester, is a required course that helps build upon foundational assessment skills that students will use throughout their nursing curriculum at York, as well as in their professional careers. 

“We also expose them to more advanced skills such as the eye assessment so that they know what kinds of tests would be ordered with what type of illnesses/disorders,” said Julie A. Beck RN, DEd, CNE.  “This helps them correlate nursing knowledge, theory and skills.”

The students also have the opportunity to interact with and benefit from nursing faculty who come from a wide range of backgrounds such as clinical, obstetric/pediatric, medical-surgical and critical care nursing. Beck taught this year’s minimester course with her colleague Lynn Warner, RN, DNSC.

“I am blessed to have been teaching this course with Lynn in minimester since its inception,” said Beck.

“This course is a joy to teach,” added Warner.

Because this course addresses history taking and assessment with emphasis on normal findings, Warner said students need current knowledge of anatomy, physiology and basic nursing principles. 

“The students need to have completed two semesters of Human Anatomy and Physiology (see video)  prior to taking the assessment course for obvious reasons,” she said. “Particularly they should know where major organs are located and the organ functions.”

An example of an activity in Health Assessment 304 that reinforces this knowledge is a T-shirt contest. The contest requires each student to draw three systems – circulatory, respiratory and gastrointestinal – with correct anatomical placement on a T-shirt. 

Pictured: Mike Enochs ’13 (Hallam, Pa.) allows his classmate Hannah Bell ’13 (Red Lion, Pa.) to assess his eyes during Health Assessment 304.