TOUS promotes symptom comprehension.
answer
Individuals seek healthcare services primarily because of patient symptoms. A model or approach to analyzing symptoms and developing a diagnosis is required for a care provider. There are several patient assessment tools available to assist a care professional in diagnosing patient symptoms. The theory of unpleasant symptoms (TOUS) is a theoretical framework that can be used to analyze patient symptoms and validate patient assessment tools.
TOUS promotes symptom comprehension. The theory lends support to the understanding of multiple symptoms occurring at the same time. According to TOUS, symptoms have some connections, and a care provider can use these inherent characteristics to better manage and understand symptoms (Lee et al., 2017). TOUS is based on the concepts of influencing factors, symptoms, and performance. Influencing factors include situational, physiological, and psychological factors that affect the quality, intensity, occurrence, timing, and level of distress of the symptom. Situational, physiological, and psychological factors all have an impact on symptoms and are interconnected. Symptoms are considered warning signs of potential health problems. Symptoms indicate a disruption in a patient’s normal functioning. Symptom characteristics include their quality, intensity, timing, and distress. The impact of the symptoms on the individual’s ability and functioning is the focus of the performances. It primarily refers to the consequences of the symptoms (Blakeman, 2019). As a result, these are important TOUS components that a health professional should be aware of when evaluating a patient assessment tool.
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It is critical to use TOUS as a guide when analyzing an assessment tool. I’ll look into whether the patient assessment tool includes the influencing factors. A section for physiological factors, such as changes in nutrition or sleep patterns, must be included in the tool. Furthermore, I’ll see if the tool includes a section for psychological factors to assess the patient’s mental health. I’ll concentrate on external factors like socioeconomic and social support. All of these factors, according to French et al. (2017), have an impact on patient symptoms and must be included in the patient assessment tool. Furthermore, the tool must rate patient symptoms based on their quality, intensity, distress, timing, and occurrence. The tool should also include a section that evaluates the effect of the symptoms on the client’s performance and functioning. As a result, these concepts are linked, and their inclusion in the patient assessment tool will enable the assessor to compare and draw a conclusion. TOUS provides a theoretical framework for analyzing the symptoms of patients. One should concentrate on key concepts such as influencing factors, symptoms, and performance. Understanding the definitions of these terms is critical when evaluating patient assessment tools. The tool allows nurses to focus on multiple symptoms at the same time, which is useful for focusing on individual symptoms.
References
J. R. Blakeman (2019). A comprehensive examination of the theory of unpleasant symptoms. 946-961 in Journal of Advanced Nursing. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.13906
C. L. French, S. L. Crawford, C. Bova, and R. S. Irwin (2017). Adults’ psychological, physiological, and situational factors change after chronic cough treatment. Chest, 152(3), 547-562, doi:10.1016/j.chest.2017.06.024
S. E. Lee, C. Vincent, and L. Finnegan (2017). An examination and assessment of the theory of unpleasant symptoms. 40(1), 16-39. Advances in Nursing Science. DOI: 10.1107/ANS.0000000000000141