Introduction
Stress is an inherent part of modern life for most people across the globe. Due to the rise in challenges that the modern global society offers to its members, many people develop anxiety and the related mental health issues, which, in turn, affect their body systems, such as nervous and respiratory ones (Oliveira-Silva, Silva, Cunha, & Foster, 2018). The issue is especially typical for young male adults, which are the target population for this analysis (Oliveira-Silva et al., 2018).
The extent of the problem varies based on patients’ age, with older patients being more susceptible to developing the described problem (Milin et al., 2016). A physical assessment of a patient with anxiety will shed light on the challenges that they experience and the strategies that can be used to help them. Due to the effects that anxiety has on people’s nervous and respiratory systems, it is highly recommended to combine medications such as fluoxetine (Prozac) with therapy to reduce changes in patients’ heart rate, blood pressure, and bpm rate.
Advanced Assessment Health History and Physical Examination Techniques: Anxiety
When performing the assessment of a patient’s propensity toward anxiety, one should consider the tests that involve the evaluation of physical characteristics such as a patient’s heart rate, bp, and bpm. The information collected from the tools such as Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20) will allow locating crucial symptoms of anxiety such as disruptions in sleep patterns, thus informing a healthcare provider about the severity of the issue (Milin et al., 2016).
The physical examination of a patient that may possibly have anxiety will also include determining the presence of problems associated with their sleep patterns, especially the development of insomnia or having other disruptions in their sleep patterns. Furthermore, approaching the issue from the perspective of a family health nurse, one should also consider asking a patient about similar cases of anxiety among their family members. The family history and the records of its members will shed light on the nature of the problem and prompt possible solutions to it.
Normal and Abnormal Findings Affecting a Focused Body System: Detecting Anxiety
Exploring the responses toward increased anxiety rates in patients, one should consider studying changes in the nervous and respiratory systems. Specifically, one has to note the abnormalities as increased heart rate (more than 100 bpm) should be deemed as a sign of a developing problem (Stavestrand et al., 2019). In addition, a patient’ nervous system develops a series of responses toward anxiety such as the development of tremor and fatigue that will have to be considered. The questions to be asked to a patient are as follows:
- Has the patient been experiencing excessive fatigue?
- Has the patient been developing disruptive sleep patterns?
- Has the patient been exposed to increased stress levels?
- Has the patient been sweating more frequently?
- Has the patient been having headaches?
Responders to the questions listed above will help to locate the presence of anxiety and determine its severity. While other tests will be needed to perform a more accurate assessment and diagnose the problem properly, the answers to the questions above will elicit the results that will serve as the foundation for suspecting the development of anxiety. Thus, the process of determining anxiety will be simplified and made significantly more accurate, with the threat of misdiagnosing a patient being reduced.
Adapting Advanced Assessment Skills to Suit the Needs of Specific Patient Populations
Managing anxiety disorder in patients of diverse backgrounds requires a significant amount of care and support. Similarly, detecting the presence of the issue in question also demands the application of well-developed awareness of the subject matter and the skills for evaluating the results and their severity. Among the crucial skills that a nurse requires to detect the presence of anxiety in a patient, one should list emotional competence first. Since a significant amount of data will be received from a patient, a nurse will have to decipher moth verbal and nonverbal messages communicated by a patient (Stavestrand et al., 2019). The use of emotional competence, including both emotional intelligence and empathy, will be necessary to prompt an honest and continuous dialogue between a patient and a nurse.
In addition, one will require the skills associated with data management will be needed. In order to assess a patient’s condition and determine the presence of anxiety, one will need to analyze and synthesize the information. Nurses will have to process the information received from the analysis of a patient’s health history and test results, compiling the data for a holistic analysis of a patient’s health status. Consequently, the premises for determining the existence of an anxiety problem in a patient will be created.
Conclusion
Because of the detrimental effects that anxiety produces on patients’ nervous system, it is critical to incorporate the treatment methods that will allow for the coordination of cortisol release and the effective prevention of anxiety aggravation, which may lead to the development of sleep disorders such as insomnia, deterioration of appetite, and other negative changes. Therefore, the use of a balanced health assessment approach that will involve the evaluation of a patient’s physical, mental, and emotional development will be required. Negative changes in any of the domains listed above will have to be recorded, and the slightest deviations from the norm will have to be monitored closely to ensure that proper care is delivered.
References
Milin, M., Cornec, D., Chastaing, M., Griner, V., Berrouiguet, S., Nowak, E.,… Devauchelle-Pensec, V. (2016). Sicca symptoms are associated with similar fatigue, anxiety, depression, and quality-of-life impairments in patients with and without primary Sjögren’s syndrome. Joint Bone Spine, 83(6), 681-685. Web.
Oliveira-Silva, I., Silva, V. A., Cunha, R. M., & Foster, C. (2018). Autonomic changes induced by pre-competitive stress in cyclists in relation to physical fitness and anxiety. PloS One, 13(12), 1-9. Web.
Stavestrand, S. H., SirevĂĄg, K., Nordhus, I. H., Sjøbø, T., Endal, T. B., Nordahl, H. M.,… Andersson, E. (2019). Physical exercise augmented cognitive behaviour therapy for older adults with generalised anxiety disorder (PEXACOG): Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials, 20(1), 174-188. Web.