Posted: December 8th, 2022

The primary causes for seeking medical care are patient symptoms

The primary causes for seeking medical care are patient symptoms. A model or method must be used by the healthcare professional to evaluate the symptoms and make a diagnosis. A care provider can diagnose a patient’s symptoms with the aid of a number of patient assessment tools. A theoretical framework for analyzing patient symptoms and validating patient assessment tools is provided by the theory of unpleasant symptoms (TOUS).

TOUS encourages awareness of symptoms. The theory backs up the notion of several symptoms occurring at once. According to TOUS, symptoms have some connections, and a caregiver can take advantage of these inborn traits to better manage and comprehend symptoms (Lee et al., 2017). Influencing factors, symptoms, and performance are the ideas behind TOUS. Situational, physiological, and psychological factors that affect the symptom’s quality, intensity, occurrence, timing, and distress level are influencing factors. The interaction between situational, physiological, and psychological factors has a big impact on symptoms. Symptoms are regarded as warning signs of potential threats to a person’s health. Symptoms indicate a change in the patient’s regular functioning. The quality, intensity, timing, and distress of symptoms are among their characteristics. Performances emphasize how symptoms affect a person’s capacity and functioning. It primarily refers to the effects of the symptoms (Blakeman, 2019). Therefore, in order to evaluate a patient assessment tool, a health professional should be aware of these important TOUS components.

It is crucial to analyze an assessment tool using TOUS as a guide. I’ll check to see if the influencing factors are included in the patient assessment tool. The tool must have a section for physiological factors like altered eating or sleeping habits. Additionally, I’ll see if the tool includes a section for psychological elements to evaluate the patient’s mental state. I’ll concentrate on outside variables like socioeconomic status and social support. All these variables have an impact on patient symptoms, and the patient assessment tool must include them, according to French et al. (2017). The tool also needs to rate patient symptoms according to their quality, intensity, distress, timing, and occurrence. A section of the tool that evaluates how the symptoms affect the client’s performance and functioning must also be included. As a result, these ideas are connected, and the assessor will be able to contrast and come to a decision thanks to their inclusion in the patient assessment tool. TOUS offers a conceptual framework for examining patient symptoms. The key ideas of influencing elements, symptoms, and performances should be the focus. In order to evaluate patient assessment tools, it is essential to comprehend the definitions of these concepts. The tool enables nurses to concentrate on multiple symptoms, which is useful for concentrating on specific symptoms.

References

J. R. Blakeman (2019). A comprehensive analysis of the theory underlying unpleasant symptoms 75(5), 946-961, Journal of Advanced Nursing. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.13906

English, C. L. French, S. L. Crawford, C. Bova, and R. S. Irwin (2017). Adults’ psychological, physical, and environmental factors change after receiving treatment for a chronic cough. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chest.2017.06.024 Chest, 152(3), 547-562

Vincent, C., Finnegan, L., and Lee, S. E. (2017). An examination and assessment of the unpleasant symptom theory. 40(1), 16–39, Advances in Nursing Science the following DOI: 10.1097/ANS.0000000000000141

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