Patient's History

Running head: TAKING A PATIENT’S HISTORY Taking a patient’s history Name: University: Instructor: Course Title: Date of Submission A Critical Review: Lloyd, H & Craig, S. (2007). A guide to taking a patient’s history, Nursing Standard, 22, p.42-48 Introduction The most critical step in treating a patient is proper history taking. There are many approaches that can be used to get information from patients which depend on every individual. A good interview should aim at understanding a patient better so as to be able to offer a better treatment plan (Sectrest, 2009). Interviewing a patient involves two main parts which are the setting of the interview and the process of carrying out the interview (Lloyd & Craig, 2007). This paper critically reviews the article “A guide to taking a patient’s history”, co-authored by Hilary Lloyd and Stephen Craig and published on 24th August, 2007 in the Journal Nursing Standards, volume 22, no. 13, p.42-48. Summary of the Article The main interest expressed by the two authors in the journal article is to describe the process involved when taking the medical history of a patient. The authors also describe the importance of environmental preparation, sound communication skills and the significance of order. The article also takes a step further to explain the rational for doctors or nurses taking a comprehensive patient history. Assessing the patient, taking history and communication are regarded to be important in this article. Taking the history of a patient enables the patients to explain the most critical information about their health to the practitioners (Lloyd & Craig, 2007, p.42). The health assessment procedure mentioned in this article includes preparing different environments, communication and the real activity of taking history. The rationale for preparing the environment is to avoid any distractions which might prevent accessibility of health practitioners to patients or affect the safety of patients and nurses (Lloyd & Craig, 2007, p.42). Communication is the second important step in assessing patients. The rationale for good communication is for the patients to find it easy to understand and develop a positive relationship with the practitioners (Lloyd & Craig, 2007, p.42). The third step is the actual history taking which the article outlines the basic principles to be followed (Lloyd & Craig, 2007, p.43). It is through taking the patient’s history that the right treatments can be provided. The health assessment tools mentioned in the article which can provide critical information about patients include the presenting complaints, past medical history, mental health, medication history, family history, social history, sexual history, occupational history and systemic history. The rationale for collecting all this information from the patient is to determine the past and the present causes of their conditions and to avoid drugs which might not be suitable to patients in different stages and conditions. The article explores different populations where age and gender are considered as important factors which might affect treatment provision. Pediatric and women health are given the importance they deserve as these populations are considered to have a my...