Physical Assessment of Patients: An Evaluation of the Byron Physical Assessment Framework (Research in Nursing) Book

Assessment is arguably the most important stage of nursing. It forms the basis for any planned nursing intervention and a baseline against which subsequent events in the hospital stay can be compared. Assessment is an ongoing activity in which the patient is continually reviewed and care is reappraised to ensure that the patient's needs are being met. The main aim of this study is to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Byron Physical Assessment Framework (BPAF). The study involved scrutinizing the BPAF to describe its purpose, conceptual basis and how it was developed. The BPAF was then refined using extensive literature review and expert opinion to improve its comprehensiveness and clarity. This monograph should be useful to all those attempting to construct and validate clinical assessment and measuring tools. Ruth Harris, a Research Fellow at the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery, has the expertise necessary to do this in a sophisticated yet realistic way for practice colleagues.Read More