Essay on Health Assessment

Introduction

In Scenario 1, the parents of a 5-year-old boy accompanying their son for his required physical exam report that they are opposed to vaccination. Immediately, to a trained healthcare worker, certain health assessment details are critical. According to Allen, Vickerstaff, and Collinson (2014), the immunization status of the child should be checked to rule out if the parents’ objection to vaccination actually kept their son from immunization. The nurse should then obtain accurate information about the number of days that have elapsed since the eligibility of the child to the first dose of vaccine. Moreover, it is essential to gather details about the medical history of the child to ascertain the possibility of any vaccine-preventable diseases.

The Body

Besides, the assessment should also feature the health beliefs of the parents. Forster et al. (2016) note that pressure to comply with state laws and myths about the dangers of immunization contribute to parents’ opposition to vaccination. Furthermore, nurses should collect details about the potential risks associated with missed immunization through subjective assessment of the parent during history collection. The idea is to learn about the motivation of the parents in their decision to deny their son any vaccines.

Conclusion

Clinically, the best response to the scenario is to be objective and evidence-based. For instance, the information from the health assessment should be used to determine whether diagnostic tests are necessary (although not indicated) and provide a basis for physical examination, especially to assess the presence of possible symptoms such as rashes (common in children that miss measles, rubella, and varicella vaccination (Levine & Pade, 2016). Ethically, the health beliefs of the parents should form the background of the education, which ought to be focused on the advantages of vaccination.