Assessing functional status Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Assessing functional status - Essay Example The ambulatory status is done to determine the patient’s mobility capability. The assessing physician should check if the patient uses a wheel chair, a cane or prosthetic devices for movement. If otherwise he should establish whether the ability is excellent, good or fair by checking the ease with the patient can climb stairs. The ability of the senses often range from excellent to poor beyond which specific descriptions are employed. In the case of hearing ability the other options are either deaf or use of hearing aids. When assessing vision, the patient should either be using glasses, contacts or is blind. Cataracts, glaucoma, DM retinopathy and Macular degeneration also form part of the scoring system. The assessment of speech is aimed at recognizing speech problems such as verbal apraxia, Aphasia, Dysphonia and abnormal tongue and lip movements. Ill-fitting dentures too are checked. Touch is scored in terms of normal sensitivity, decreased sensitivity or numbness to temperature. Smell and taste sensitivity cannot be described as excellent, good or fair. It is either having no problem or is changed. The checking physician notes down the changes in the score card. Assessing functional status of a patient is important in many occasions. According to Preeti (2009), one situation where it is necessary is a patient is about to undergo an operation. In most cases, the results of the assessment are compared with the possible outcomes of the operation. Pre-operation functional status assessment is aimed at identifying the impairment. It is reported that most patients who after operations develop delirium depression and general inability to recover had functional and cognitive impairments which were not considered before operation. Under this situation, the studies would have helped prevent postoperative health decline in the adults (Preeti, 2009). Generally, geriatric assessment is necessary in determining a patient’s functional