A Pharmacologic Approach to Physical Assessment

Join Barb for a twist on the approach to the Physical Assessment of the Patient. The majority of our patients are on numerous drugs (prescription, over-the-counter, supplements, and not-so-legal). How do these drugs influence our assessment of the patient? Chronic opioid users have bowel problems, teenagers have chronic coughs with chronic cannabis use, patients supplements can have numerous GI and GU complaints, beta blockers have patients complaining of cold feet and hair loss, calcium channel blockers cause chronic heartburn (GERD)...these are just a few of the myriads of physical signs and symptoms that must be considered when assessing patients. You'll evaluate your patient in a very different and discerning way after attending this clever approach to physical assessment.