The effect of the ABCDE assessment method and an educational session on nursing physical assessment in the general ICU at Dr Sardijito Hospital, Special Region Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Abstract

Background: Nurses responsibility for physical assessment has changed greatly over the years. Traditionally nurses had very limited responsibility for physical assessment and patient assessment was not considered to be part of the nursing role. As nurses’ roles have become more sophisticated, patient assessment skills have become essential (McKenna et al. 2011). There have been no studies regarding the effect of an education session on nursing physical assessment using the airway, breathing, circulation, disability, exposure and equipment (ABCDE) approach in intensive care unit (ICU) settings. Methods: The research design for this study was quasi-experimental. The participants were all nurses working in the general ICU of Dr Sardjito Hospital in Special Region Yogyakarta, Indonesia (n=24). The intervention in this study was an education session regarding physical assessment utilising the ABCDE approach. Results: Analysis of the effect of an education session on ABCDE physical assessment revealed that all dependent variables had p < 0.05 (airway and disability, p = 0.001; breathing, circulation, exposure and equipment aspects, p < 0.0001), which suggests that the education session had a significant effect on ABCDE physical assessment in the ICU. Conclusions: Physical assessment with the ABCDE approach has been shown to provide a structured and systematic method in nursing physical assessment, and to influence nurses’ actions regarding physical assessment in the ICU setting. This method also shows considerable promise and has the potential to contribute to improving the practice of assessment in various clinical settings.