Responding to Abnormal Physical Assessment Findings With Culturally Competent Care 

One goal of this Competency is to acknowledge your experience and to help you examine, interpret, and learn from it in ways that advance your nursing skills. This Competency also puts priority on addressing aspects of nursing that are inevitable yet can be inherently challenging. 

With those goals in mind, your Competency Assessment requires an example of an abnormal finding in the physical assessment of a patient. You are encouraged to draw from your own experience. However, you may also work with a focus case obtained from another professional nurse. Consider details, such as the following, that you will need to provide:

What was the purpose of the exam?How was the abnormality found?How was it determined to be abnormal?Was the abnormal finding usual/unusual, otherwise characterized, based the patient’s age/place in the lifespan?How was the finding shared with the patient?What were next steps for diagnosis and/or treatment?

Explaining the role of cultural competence in nursing care is an equally important component of this Assessment. You will analyze the impact of cultural competence in conducting a physical assessment and responding to an abnormal finding. You will explain how a nurse’s demonstration of cultural competence would improve the patient’s experience and potential outcomes. For these requirements, you may incorporate details about your focus patient that you know. Or, you may approach this part of the Assessment by presenting best practices.

Your Performance Task is to draw this information on cultural competence and physical assessment together in a PowerPoint presentation to inform nurses in a practice setting on providing culturally competent care and the particular impact with physical assessments that have abnormal findings. (Note: You are not required to include audio narration.) Be sure to adhere to rules of confidentiality and omit identifying details about the patient, healthcare setting, or other healthcare providers.

Note: Be sure to delete the formatting notes and tips in the PowerPoint template. Your presentation should feature only your original content and wording.

To complete the Competency Assessment:

Using the PowerPoint template document, create a PowerPoint presentation of 11–14 slides, plus a title slide and reference slide(s), to include the following: 

Part 1: Providing Culturally Competent Care   

Explain what “cultural competence” means in professional nursing practice.Describe examples of how culturally competent care benefits patients and patient outcomes.Explain practical approaches to demonstrating cultural competence, including cultural humility, in nursing care.Explain how knowledge of a patient’s culture, including norms and beliefs, is important in a physical assessment, and why.Identify a patient who is the focus of your presentation with appropriate details: the patient’s age, cultural background, health background, and purpose of the physical assessment.

Part 2: Responding to an Abnormal Finding in a Physical Assessment 

Explain what you found in the physical assessment of the patient, how you made the identification, and why the finding was abnormal.Based on the patient’s age and place in the lifespan, explain how you characterize this finding, and why.Explain how knowledge of the patient’s cultural norms and beliefs supports presenting the abnormal finding to the patient.Explain your decision making on next steps for the patient.If you were making a referral for this patient, explain what you would consider, and why.Explain the impact and value of this experience on your nursing practice, with specific examples.