Clinical Observation: A Case Study

1. What are routine daily clinical observations that are found on a care plan that would you perform on a patient?
SPo2, Resps, HR, BP, Temp, pain scale, alert scale,
2. Name the observation that you would perform on a patient that has a head injury. Identify what is accessed in this type of observation.
- Glasgow coma scale:- checking the eyes for a reaction
- Neurological obs:- which includes pain stimuli, GCS scale, limb movement, pulse and BP and verbal response
- Neurovascular obs: warmth, colour, movement sensation, pulses, venous return and pain score (Chrisp & Taylor, 2011)
3. Name the observation that you would perform on a patient that has had a fractured arm pined and plated and is now in a full cast. Identify what is accessed in this type of observation.

Ask the pt their name, can they tell me, can they squeeze my hand, open their eyes
Airways: Put into recovery position, Check airways, put finger in airways to scoop out sputum and anything else
Breathing: Put fingers under nose and mouth to feel breaths or see rise and fall of chest
Compressions: Start 100X 1 min chest compression lots of 30 and 2 breaths then check pulse or reaction
Difribulate: Set up automatic defibrillator pads and then let machine calibrate, attach paddles and tell everyone to clear away (sasvrc.qld)
6. Would the protocol for cardiac arrest differ from an acute care setting to an aged care facility? Explain your answer.
In a nursing home it would be the same as in hospital, the only deference would be if the person has a NFR and it is discussed at handover, even still the patient would still be made comfortable and oxygenated in both care settings (Chrisp & Taylor, 2011)
7. What signs/symptoms would you expect to see if a patient was suffering from hypoxia?
Cyanosis, SOB, resp rate low, SPO2 low, BP and pulse and BP